| GMA Wins Hearts of Central Mindanaoans for Peace and Development Efforts |
| By Noel Y. Punzalan |
COTABATO CITY (PNA) -- Barely 100 days in office since assuming the country's presidency last Jan. 20, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has continuously reaped praises from Mindanaons, particularly those from Central Mindanao, after making true her promise to make the island the top priority of her government in terms of peace and development. To the delight of the people here, the President made her first visit in the region last March 4, personally seeing for herself the condition of refugees housed at various evacuation centers in the provinces of Cotabato, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, the three hardest-hit areas of rebel-military conflict last year. Clashes between Moro rebels and government forces escalated here in 2000 after then President Joseph Ejercito Estrada ordered an all-out war against Moro Islamic Liberation Front secessionists that resulted in the displacement of over 100,000 civilians residing within the disputed zones. But a sudden change in the national leadership, brought about by the bloodless People Power 2, somehow rekindled the last hope for peace in the hearts of Central Mindanaons, as President Macapagal-Arroyo, herself a Mindanaon, defused tension between the government and the MILF by offering renewed peace overture with the latter. To show her sincerity, the Chief Executive even ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to suspend all military operations against the MILF to give way for peace and development. Thereafter, she created Interact Mindanao, an inter-agency relief and rehabilitation body formed under Executive Order No. 2 that takes charge of rehabilitating war-devastated portions of the island. Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo's gesture of concern for Mindanao moved lawyer Lanang Ali, the MILF legal counsel, that at one point he commented that "peace seems to be at hand as the President is moving in the right direction." Positively responding to the President's call for peace, the MILF hierarchy responded with its own version of the unilateral truce, with Salamat Hashim, the MILF reclusive chieftain, even agreeing to open new talks with the present government. Overwhelmed by the way things are coming out "positively" for Mindanao, the President again visited the region last April 19, this time making clear the government's intention of hastening the agricultural potentials of the island, deemed by many as the future food basket of the country. "With Mindanao supplying 50 percent of the country's food supply, it should be given utmost attention," the President told some 5,000 welcomers in Kidapawan City, adding that the question now lies not as to what places in the island needs help for improvement but rather how much help should be given for it to develop entirely. In an interview, Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Pinol, a staunch critic of the MILF, said he is backing up the President fully in her efforts, citing that now is the time to join hands in developing the island long drawn into the decades-old Moro rebellion that affected much of its growth. "After we work out our differences with the MILF, then we move to push development" he stressed. Pinol said the President was right in pointing out that "only Mindanaons could make things happen for Mindanao."(PNA) SCS/NYP/mlc |