A FORMER MILF combatant (right) receives his competency certificate from Minister Mohagher Iqbal after completing a technical skills training program as part of the normalization process in the Bangsamoro region. — BANGSAMORO.GOV.PH

ANOTHER European Union (EU) grant worth €10.39 million or about P605 million has been approved for four peace-related projects in the Bangsamoro region in southern Philippines. 

The projects will support the normalization process in the Muslim-majority region, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said in a statement released late Wednesday. 

The normalization process involves the decommissioning of former armed fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace agreement with the government in 2014, and transforming their communities into peaceful and productive zones.

The projects are:  

  • Programme on Assistance for Camp Transformation through Inclusion, Violent Prevention, and Economic Empowerment (PROACTIVE) by the United Nations Development Programme;  
  • Dialogue and Engagement in Communities to Foster Peaceful Camps Transformation in the BARMM of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue;  
  • Access to Legal Identity and Social Services for Decommissioned Combatants (ALIAS-DC) by Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS); and  
  • Building Community Resilience and Delivery of Essential Services for Post-Conflict Recovery in Lanao del Sur/Marawi City by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

“I know that everybody is really contributing so that final peace and sustainable peace will take place and happen to Mindanao,” said Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, who also chairs the MILF Peace Implementing Panel. 

Three other projects were approved earlier with a total grant of €8.58 million or about P500 million.

Christoph Wagner, EU’s Head of Cooperation in the Philippines, said a €20- million financing agreement was also recently signed for the Bangsamoro Agri-Enterprise program.

“Let’s stay forward-looking… This is important because this will work on value chains in the BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) that will support farmers’ goods, food production, cash flow, and in particular for Halal and [other] products,” Mr. Wagner is quoted as saying in the OPAPRU statement. 

“I really hope that these can start-up soon because this socioeconomic support is crucial for the peace dividends,” he said. — MSJ 

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