DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao -- Officials from the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Women, visited the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) Camp Darapanan community on Tuesday, March 15.

The international delegation was welcomed by MILF Deputy Minister Von Al Haq, chairman of the MILF Joint Peace and Security Committee (MILF JPSC), where they were given a tour of pre-assembly and processing site (pre-APA) inside the camp which was utilized as a pre-health screening and pre-registration area during the decommissioning process of MILF combatants.

The party, headed by Stephen Duval, first secretary (development) of the Canadian Embassy, also visited the JPSC Operations Center (OpCen) located within the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) office compound wherein it met with Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST) contingents composed of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and MILF Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.

Duval was joined by Philip Cordier, first secretary (political); Peter Wright, second secretary (political), and Isabel Hernando (development) of the Canadian Embassy; Nery Ronatay of UN Women; and Judith De Guzman of UNDP.

Col. Joel Mamon, head of Secretariat of the GPH Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and GPH Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) Combined Secretariat, together with Col. Donald Gumiran, member of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) JPSC, welcomed the Canadian Embassy and UN delegation.
Lt. Col. Christopherson Capuyan, chief of the JPST OpCen, gave the delegation a tour of the JPST OpCen’s area of operations.

The delegation was also given a briefing on the peacekeeping efforts being carried out by the GPH JPSC Secretariat, as well as the socioeconomic development programs being implemented by the GPH Task Force for Decommissioned Combatants and their Communities (TFDCC) Secretariat.

According to Carl Jerick Sol of the GPH JPSC Secretariat, as of date, 430 JPST personnel have been deployed to mutually agreed areas of the GPH and MILF in Lanao del Sur, Magyundanao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Basilan.

Sol also reported on the accomplishments of the JPSTs in the region which include, among others, assistance to resolving cases of rido (clan feud); security assistance during the conduct of socioeconomic initiatives; awareness campaigns, peacebuilding and community engagement activities; and security assistance during the decommissioning of MILF combatants and their weapons.
Fatima Nandu of the GPH TFDCC Secretariat presented the completed and ongoing programs for decommissioned combatants, their families and communities. These include, among others, transitional cash assistance, values transformation and technical vocational education trainings; livelihood packages for MILF cooperatives such as mobile rice mills, halal meat shop and abattoir, and farm machineries; and infrastructures projects such as rural health units and irrigation systems.

Canadian Embassy First Secretary Duval said the updates on the implementation of the Normalization Program “are very important information,” as he lauded the GPH and the MILF “for all their hard work on the normalization process.”

“The JPSTs are a really interesting case study and reeks [of] a very strong signal of how long you are working together for a lasting peace and normalization in the Bangsamoro. For Canada’s part, we are very proud to be a partner in that process in supporting efforts such as the Bangsamoro Normalization Trust Fund as well as Women, Peace and Security efforts in the Bangsamoro,” Duval said.

OPAPRU Dir Wendell Orbeso, head of the Joint Normalization Committee GPH Secretariat and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro Implementing Department, also participated in the meetings via video teleconference.

Orbeso stressed that the Canadian government is among the long-standing partners of the Philippine government during the negotiation and implementation stages of the Bangsamoro peace process.

Last month, Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter MacArther also visited local government units throughout the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and Cotabato City to oversee the various peacebuilding and development initiatives being implemented by Canada in the areas. (OPAPRU)