ARMM prepares for 'peace-tahan' - Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY, Philippines– A “peace-tahan” will be held at the 32-hectare Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound here on March 27 to celebrate the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB).

“The regional activity will be held simultaneous with the signing of the CAB by representatives of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),” said ARMM’s regional executive secretary Laisa Alamia.

Alamia said ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman has ordered the setting up of large television monitors in strategic spots in the surroundings of the regional government center to enable employees and guests to watch the live telecast of the signing of the agreement.

“The ARMM leadership is glad to see the peace efforts end up with a positive outcome. We shall have a celebration of peace and solidarity,” Alamia said.

She said a musical and cultural event would cap the daylong “peacetahan.”

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu will also lead a traditional Moro “kanduli” thanksgiving banquet after the signing of the CAB.

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Mangudadatu said he would invite Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and members of the MILF’s central committee to the kanduli gathering, to be held in Buluan town.

“We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for. The successful culmination of the government-MILF peace negotiations is beneficial to all sectors in the Bangsamoro homeland,” he said.

Ferrer, in a press statement, said the CAB signing would seal the partnership for peace and prosperity between the government and the MILF.

“This partnership is based on our shared aspiration to heal the wounds of conflict, enable meaningful autonomy for the Bangsamoro, and nurture peace and development in Muslim Mindanao,” she said.

The CAB compiles all major agreements signed by the government and the MILF in the course of the 17-year negotiations.

Its most important parts are the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and its four annexes on transitional arrangements, wealth sharing, power sharing, and normalization.

“These documents provide for the road map and the terms pertaining to the creation of the Bangsamoro entity and the transformation of the MILF from an armed group to an active participant in governance and societal reform,” Ferrer said in a statement.

On Thursday, Japan Ambas- sador Toshinao Urabe said the signing of the CAB is a “huge step forward” toward peace in the Philippines. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Jaime Laude

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