Root of Mindanao violence is poverty — EC ambassador

from the Manilla Bulletin

Charissa M. Luci

The root of violence in Mindanao is not religion or secessionism, it is the poverty of the people involved in the armed conflict, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of the European Commission delegation in Manila, said the other night.

MacDonald, who just came back from Europe, said he was "saddened" by the continuous violence in the troubled southern Philippines that has killed a number of people and displaced thousands of local residents.

"It was very sad to hear that it (peace process) seemed to be interrupted. I can only hope that may be a temporary interruption and that the dialogue will resume again shortly," he said in an interview shortly before the opening of the Cine Europa 11 at the Shangri-La Plaza Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

"We don’t want to see the development of Mindanao put at risk because of the renewed conflict. We really do hope that a dialogue leading to a peace agreement can be resumed as soon as possible and in particular, that the violence will be brought to an end so that people can return to their homes," MacDonald said.

He said that over the last 10 years, EU has been giving a lot of development support for Mindanao amounting to almost R8 billion.

He urged the government to implement more development projects in Mindanao, saying that the region has a tremendous potential to develop for the benefit of its people and of the Philippines as a whole,.

"But without peace, development can’t happen," he said.

"When you look at some of the human development indicators for parts in Mindanao, things like health, nutrition, education, the Philippines should be ashamed of such low levels of basic social indicators," he said.

French Ambassador Gérard Chesnel also condemned the violence and expressed hopes that the Philippine government and the Muslim rebels would return to the negotiating table.

The month-long conflict in the South was fired up by the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order barring the signing of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain.

"Unfortunately, some people have become impatient and resort to violence. Of course, we condemn violence wherever it comes from. But, we hope that the dialogue can resume very soon and that will have an agreement signed as soon as possible," he said.

Chesnel said he is "moderately optimistic" that the peace process will move forward "because I saw that on both sides, people have been very responsible" and both sides don’t "want to create a situation which will be irreversible."

He said the situation in Mindanao is certainly not irreversible and both the Philippine government and the MILF are really trying to resume dialogue.

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