ZAMBOANGA CITY (Hader Glang / 19 Jan) Speaker Hatimil Hassan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) met with top leaders of the the Armed Forces of the Philippines and discussed the current situation in the region ten years after the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the government sealed a peace agreement ending more than two decades of bloody fighting.
Hassan held a closed-door meeting with AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga, Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon inside the tightly guarded Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City recently.
But details of the meeting were not immediately available, but military sources said Hassan was concerned about the development of Muslim areas in the southern Philippines, and the full implementation of the September 1996 peace accord.
Hassan held a closed-door meeting with AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga, Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon inside the tightly guarded Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City recently.
But details of the meeting were not immediately available, but military sources said Hassan was concerned about the development of Muslim areas in the southern Philippines, and the full implementation of the September 1996 peace accord.
Some 7,500 MNLF members were integrated into the military and about 5,000 were admitted into the national police as part of the peace deal.
Hassan is also the current chairman of the MNLF.
It was during Nur Misuari's time when the MNLF signed the peace agreement. Misuari became ARMM governor and later ousted by the MNLF Central Committee.
He then led a failed rebellion in Jolo Island in 2001 ahead of new elections in the ARMM, and fled to Malaysia where he was arrested and deported back home and jailed.
Hassan earlier appealed to President Gloria Arroyo to free Misuari for humanitarian reason. He said the former rebel leader could help in the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and reconcile their people.
The government last week allowed Misuari to attend the Islamic holiday Eid'l Adha in Taguig in Manila after the Makati Regional Trial Court gave him permission to take part in the annual celebration. Hassan thanked Arroyo for allowing Misuari to leave his prison cell and attend the prayers at the Blue Mosque in Maharlika village.
Hassan said they are currently working to attract investors in the ARMM. Just recently, he said, a group of ambassadors from the European Union visited different areas in the Muslim autonomous region to inspect EU-funded projects there.
He said the ambassadors were impressed by the peace and order condition in ARMM, and lauded the ongoing peace talks between the Arroyo government and the MILF.
Hassan earlier appealed to President Gloria Arroyo to free Misuari for humanitarian reason. He said the former rebel leader could help in the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and reconcile their people.
The government last week allowed Misuari to attend the Islamic holiday Eid'l Adha in Taguig in Manila after the Makati Regional Trial Court gave him permission to take part in the annual celebration. Hassan thanked Arroyo for allowing Misuari to leave his prison cell and attend the prayers at the Blue Mosque in Maharlika village.
Hassan said they are currently working to attract investors in the ARMM. Just recently, he said, a group of ambassadors from the European Union visited different areas in the Muslim autonomous region to inspect EU-funded projects there.
He said the ambassadors were impressed by the peace and order condition in ARMM, and lauded the ongoing peace talks between the Arroyo government and the MILF.
The EU has funded poverty alleviation programs in Mindanao such as those under the Support to Agrarian Reform Communities in Central Mindanao (STARCM) and programmes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) especially in the ARMM.
EU-Programmes for IDPs are aimed at strengthening the capacities of displaced persons and communities and to enable them to promote a culture of peace, facilitate their access to justice and strengthen the support mechanisms and institutions on emergency response and management. In the ARMM alone, it has has total budget of 3 million euro dollars, according to the official Philippine Information Agency.
It said Ambassador Jan De Kok also assured the ARMM of 33 million Euros (about P2.08 billion) for the Health Sector Policy Support Programme (HSPSP) as part of EU's commitment to help the Arroyo government's health sector reform programs.
The HSPSP is expected to improve the access to quality health services especially by the poor in the provinces of Cotabato, South Cotabato in region 12 as well as Misamis Occidental and Agusan del Sur.
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