ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Thursday praised the United Nations for its $27-million food aid program to Mindanao in support to Manila’s effort to end the decades-long strife in the southern region.
The United Nations World Food Programme on Thursday said it will start the food-aid operation in Mindanao to help more than two million people from poor and conflict-torn communities, especially families displaced by the violence.
Mindanao is home to about 14 million Christians and Muslims, and at least 18 other indigenous tribes. It is also a stronghold of the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim separatist rebel group currently negotiating peace with Manila.
“We welcome this development and the UN food aid will surely help a lot of poor people in conflict-torn areas in Mindanao. It will provide the much needed humanitarian assistance to many poor Muslim communities and the MILF is willing to take part and help the UN and the government undertakes this noble cause,” Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF chief peace negotiator, told The Manila Times by phone from his base in Mindanao.
He said while the peace talks are going on, the rebels are willing to help the government start rehabilitating Mindanao through the Bangsamoro Development Agency, put up by the MILF and the Arroyo government in 2002. The agency will implement all rehabilitation and development programs in Mindanao, he said.
The UN food program said the food-aid operation will be carried out in cooperation with the Philippine government and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
More than half of the population of Mindanao lives on less than US$0.60 a day and about 30 percent of children under 5 years old are malnourished and just one-third of children able to finish primary school.
President Arroyo last week appealed for additional aid from international donors to help hasten the peace process. She said the government expects to sign a peace agreement with the MILF before the year ends.
The one-year program has a budget of US$27.2 million, but the actual assistance will depend on donor response. Last month, Tokyo announced the first major contribution of US$1.2 million for the Mindanao program as part of its aid to UNWFP’s operations.
The UNWFP also received help from Citigroup, a global financial services provider that has worked with the World Food Programme in the past.
The World Bank is preparing a $50-million assistance package for Mindanao, but the aid would be disbursed only after a peace agreement is signed.
Many Arab countries, including the influential Organization of Islamic Conference and the World Muslim League, are strongly supporting the peace process.
The MILF joined President Arroyo for development aid in war-torn areas, but said Manila should hasten the peace process.
“Although we welcome President Arroyo’s appeal for international aid and join her efforts to develop war-torn areas in Mindanao, the MILF must say that a comprehensive peace agreement is very important before donor countries can help and start pouring aid to the region,” Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the MILF, said.
President George W. Bush has offered as much as $30 million to help develop Mindanao once the MILF seals a peace agreement with Manila. The money will be used to help the rebels return to the mainstream.
US Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney, who was in Zamboanga City and Basilan island on Tuesday, pledged more development aid through the US Agency for International Development and Growth with Equity in Mindanao, a five-year initiative that began in September 2002 to increase economic productivity and to contribute to lasting peace in conflict-affected areas.
MILF praises $27-M food program of United Nations
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