Statement by Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Mindanao Peace Process in the Philippines (Resumption of Official Peace Talks and Japan's Participation in the International Contact Group)

December 2, 2009
Japanese

The Government of Japan welcomes that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is based in Mindanao, agreed to resume the official peace talks in the Mindanao Peace Process.
The Government of Japan highly values the efforts made by both negotiating parties and the Government of Malaysia, who has served as facilitator, to reach this agreement. Japan strongly expects that the parties concerned will continue sincere discussions making use of peace process frameworks and reach the final agreement for peace in Mindanao at an early stage.
Upon the request from the negotiating parties (the GRP and the MILF) and the Government of Malaysia in consideration of Japan's contributions to date to the Mindanao Peace Process, Japan has decided to participate in the International Contact Group (ICG). The ICG, being comprised of Japan, the United Kingdom, Turkey and four NGOs, is expected to perform such roles as giving advice to the parties concerned on the Mindanao Peace Process and participating in peace talks as observers.
Japan has proactively contributed to the Mindanao Peace Process through the dispatch of development experts to the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the J-BIRD projects (see below Reference 3.), which include intensive implementation of Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in the conflict-affected areas. Japan intends to continue supporting peace in Mindanao through such assistance and the ICG.

(Reference) Mindanao Peace Process in the Philippines

On December 2, the Chairmen of the GRP and the MILF Peace Panels formally announced a Joint Statement for the establishment of the ICG for the GRP-MILF peace process and the holding of the ICG's first organizational meeting on December 4 in Manila. The ICG is composed of Japan, the United Kingdom, Turkey and four NGOs (the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD) and the Asia Foundation, which are based in Manila, London-based Conciliation Resources and Indonesia-based Muhammadiyah).
In the Joint Statement, the GRP and the MILF agreed to resume the peace talks on December 8 and 9 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The peace process between the GRP and the MILF reached a ceasefire agreement in 2003 after approximately forty years of armed conflict, and was further developed through the activities of the IMT (headed by Malaysia) since 2004. However, in August 2008, armed conflict resumed when the national coordination surrounding resolutions of pending land problems failed.
In July 2009, the GRP and the MILF announced a Joint Statement for the suspension of military operations/actions and resumption of peace talks. The parties then signed a framework agreement on the ICG in September and another framework agreement on the Civilian Protection Mechanism of the IMT in October.
Japan recognizes that peace in Mindanao is indispensable for peace and prosperity in Asia. Japan has contributed to the reconstruction and development of Mindanao through the dispatch of development experts to the IMT socio-economic development aspect and intensive implementation of Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in conflict-affected areas. Japan's assistance in total is called the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiative for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD), and is well-known among residents of Mindanao. (*"Bangsamoro" refers to Muslims in Mindanao.)

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