Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Q. Deles tells members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in a press briefing on Friday (16 July) in Makati that the government has been working on immediate doables to pursue political settlement of armed conflicts.  Among these include facilitating the return and rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mindanao, affirming and strengthening the suspension of military offensives between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and restarting peace negotiations on the basis of a fresh, mutually acceptable, and broadly supported platform and establishing mechanisms for the inclusion of all affected parties.


MANILA, July 16 – Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Q. Deles today reiterated that the government has been working hard to facilitate the rehabilitation and return of remaining internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their communities in Central Mindanao.

“We do not want to leave a legacy of displacement,” she told the members of the Foreign Correspondent Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in a press briefing at the Mandarin Hotel this morning.

Deles stressed that this has been identified by the administration as an immediate doable in the first 100 days.

She also stated that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) is currently collaborating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) “to address this as quickly as possible.”

“We will need to have more special meetings with the DSWD-ARMM.”

Deles added that they are also been talking to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees, which is here in the country at present.

According to DSWD-ARMM, the number of remaining residents displaced by renewed skirmishes between government forces and lawless elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2008 is estimated to be 30,000.

During the height of the armed clashes, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that nearly 600,000 lives have been displaced and interrupted due to the atrocities perpetuated by rogue MILF forces after the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the government and the MILF.

The homeland deal was intended to provide for the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) that will oversee the new Moro ancestral domain.

A plan to set up a compensatory fund, Deles said, was recently approved by President Benigno Aquino III to provide shelter, food and livelihood assistance to enable the internally displaced families to return to their homes.

Apart from facilitating the return and rehabilitation of the IDPs, the peace process adviser likewise stressed other specific measures which the administration will pursue right away.

“These involve affirming and strengthening the suspension of military offensives between the government and the MILF, and restarting peace negotiations on the basis of a fresh, mutually acceptable, and broadly supported platform and establishing mechanisms for the inclusion of all affected parties,” she said.

Others include bringing the contention on the status of the implementation of the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement to a mutually agreed upon closure, and undertaking strategic confidence-building measures and affirmative action to rebuild trust and confidence in the national government’s seriousness in pursuing peace.

Deles expressed hope that the peace talks between the government and MILF will further gain ground.

“It is a necessity to be optimistic with the level of armed conflicts that we have. That’s why we ask for everyone’s support and prayers, please,” she stated.