Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the Meeting between President Aquino of the Philippines and MILF Chairman Murad on the Mindanao Peace Process in the Philippines

August 5, 2011
Japanese

On the evening of August 4 (Thursday), an informal meeting was held between H.E. Mr. Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines and Mr. Al Haj Murad, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the suburbs of Tokyo for the solution of the issue of the peace in Mindanao.
Japan heartily welcomes that this meeting became a meaningful opportunity for smoothly proceeding with the Mindanao Peace Process. This was the first time that the President of the Republic of the Philippines and the Chair of MILF held a meeting. The Government of Japan supported the holding of the meeting as requested by the Government of the Philippines to hold it in Japan. There was an expression of gratitude to Japan in the statement of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, and Japan is pleased to have been able to contribute to the realization of the meeting.
Japan strongly expects that both parties will continue sincere talks based on the result of the meeting and reach the final peace agreement at an early stage. Japan is also committed to actively continuing its reconstruction and development assistance in the Mindanao region through the dispatch of development experts to the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and intensive implementation of Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in the conflict-affected areas (J-BIRD projects) and support to the peace process as a member of the International Contact Group (ICG).

[Reference] Mindanao Peace Process

1. The peace process between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is based in Mindanao, has made progress through a ceasefire agreement in 2003 and activities of the IMT (headed by Malaysia) since 2004, after approximately 40 years of armed conflict. In August 2008, armed conflict recurred when the national coordination surrounding resolutions of pending land problems failed, but the peace negotiation resumed in February 2010.

2. Japan has contributed to progress in the Mindanao Peace Process and the reconstruction and development of the Mindanao region through the dispatch of development experts to the IMT socio-economic assistance aspect, intensive implementation of Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in conflict-affected areas, and participation in the ICG, which participates in the peace negotiation as observers to give advice to the parties, under the recognition that peace in Mindanao is indispensable for peace and prosperity in Asia. Japan’s assistance in total is called the "Japan-Bangsamoro Initiative for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD)" and is well-known among residents in Mindanao (* "Bangsamoro" refers to Muslims in Mindanao).

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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