MARAWI CITY (PIA)--Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim expressed his commitment to continue supporting the Bangsamoro peace process in pursuit of attaining lasting peace and development in Mindanao.
This transpired during his state visit to the Philippines, March 1, at the Malacañang for a bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
PM Anwar said the assistance will be done through "various capacity-building programs, including through our Malaysia technical cooperation program."
"On the peace process in Mindanao, I must express again my profound thanks and gratitude. Under your leadership, President, you have seen great strides in this direction. It is only our duty, as a good neighbor, to support and facilitate the process. Malaysia has assured the Philippines of continued help to pave the way to a stable Bangsamoro administration in Mindanao," he added, stressing that his stands are guided by everything that needs to be done at the multilateral level to support peace in Mindanao.
In the meantime, President Marcos said both countries have agreed to keep working together on political and security issues. This includes bringing back the Joint Commission meetings and working together to fight transnational crime and terrorism.
"We have recognized the great contribution that Malaysia has made to the peace process in the southern Philippines. And we hope that this support that they have shown over the past few years will continue and will continue to contribute to the success of the peace process and the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region," the President said.
Marcos said the cultures of the Philippines and Malaysia are related because they both have deep historical roots.
"As such, we spoke of further deepening our people-to-people ties through continued cultural exchanges and tourism," Marcos added.
The Prime Minister met with Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim afterward to discuss Malaysia's assistance to BARMM.
Accordingly, the meeting was to discuss assurances about any cooperation so that reconciliation, especially among Muslims in the south of the Philippines, can be well established and ensure the success and future of thousands of former fighters under the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
The Malaysian PM also committed to supporting and enhancing cooperation with the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia– Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and the hosting of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines Facilitation Center. (BIO/PIA-10 Lanao del Sur)
