MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 19 Oct) – A senior Japanese official arrived Thursday in Manila to join a group of international truce observers deployed in the mineral-rich, but dangerous region of Mindanao.
Masafumi Nagaishi, an economic development expert, is heading for Cotabato City in Maguindanao province next week to begin his year-long tour of duty as Japan plays an important role in the peace process in the troubled southern region.
Nagaishi was head of the Disaster Management Team of the Global Environment Division of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Tokyo prior to his new assignment.
Manila is currently negotiating peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao.
Nagaishi will also assess reconstruction needs and development projects in conflict-affected areas in the south as part of the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team (IMT).
His work will focus on monitoring the socio-economic aspect of the peace process and work closely with the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), the rehabilitation and development arm of the MILF.
Japan Foreign Minister Taro Aso who visited the Philippines in July said the commitment is part of Tokyo’s peace effort in Mindanao. Japan is a major aid donor to the Philippines.
Aside from the MILF, the communist New People's Army rebels and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the Southeast Asia terror network, Jemaah Islamiya, are also actively operating in Mindanao.(Mindanao Examiner)
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