COTABATO CITY - An Army brigade serving mostly conflict-affected areas in Muslim Mindanao has gained momentum in its campaign to win peace sans the use of firearms, following its initial coordination with public and private peace advocate groups in a "partnership-building" meeting here. The Army's 603rd Infantry Brigade (IB) led by its commanding officer Col. Ernesto Aradanas aired his elation over the enthusiastic response at the meeting of 85 participants representing local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations (NGOs), international NGOs, peoples' organizations (POs), and other private sectors. "Our building-partnership meeting went well with the creating of working committees to hold a follow up meeting next month for the forging of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under our 'pro-peace and pro-people' campaign," Aradanas said. Known in the local media as the "Army's peace-builder," Aradanas said the MoU will be inked in another meeting before the launching of the "pro-peace and pro-people" drive from November 10 to 11 at the Shariff Kabunsuan Center of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound here.
The MoU will establish workable communication system employing all available ways and means to ink partners, and to establish processes and procedures for effective coordination, collaboration, cooperation and/or complementation in pursuit of peace and development in ARMM, particularly in Maguindanao, Aradanas said. He said the campaign is in pursuit of the recently concluded ARMM Peace Summit that set a road map for peace and development efforts in Mindanao. "The Peace Summit identified issues and concerns on peace but it did not identify what programs of actions will be done to address it," Aradanas said.
"Our partnership with civilian organizations will attempt to address these issues and concerns for peace and development to be gradually realized," he added. Participants in Monday's meeting said the military-civilian partnership drive is timely with the impending renewal of the government's peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) this month or on December.
