Top > Regional Affairs > Asia > Philippines > Visit to Japan of Her Excellency Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines, and Mr. Jose Miguel Tuason Arroyo > Support Package for Peace and Stability in Mindanao

Support Package for Peace and Stability in Mindanao

December 4, 2002
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Japan

1. Purpose

(1) The objective of this Support Package is to provide sustained support, from the medium- to longer-term viewpoints, to contribute toward the escape from extreme poverty and the consolidation for peace in the region of Mindanao.

(2) Particular emphasis is placed on the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a region seriously affected by local strife, and thereby its development been delayed substantially.

2. Priority Areas

(1) Support for policy formulation and implementation (targeted at the ARMM government)
(Formulation and implementation of development plans, improvement of administrative capabilities, etc. These would include the dispatch of policy advisers, training programs, and the support through trainees who have returned home from training activities in Japan.)

(2) Support for improvement of basic human needs
(Health and medical care, agriculture and rural development, and basic infrastructure development)

(3) Support which contributes directly toward peace-building and the fight against terrorism
(Development of human resources related to anti-terrorist activities, capacity building of police forces, etc.)

3. Specific Cooperation Projects

(1) A project formulation study team will be dispatched to design concrete projects.

(2) Preceding the dispatch of the above team, the following cooperation projects, amounting to about 4 billion yen in all, were newly announced. As a result, Japan's total support of about 44 billion yen is now to be planned to the Mindanao region, including those of yen loans already committed.

1) Loan aid for the "Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Social Fund for Peace and Development" (2.47 billion yen) aimed at the support for community development and construction of local infrastructure in ARMM.

2) Sector program grant aid (1.5 billion yen; E/N signature finished this time) contributing to peace-building and socio-economic development in the Mindanao region, centered on ARMM.

(3) About 40 billion yen are to be disbursed for the following and other yen loan projects for the Mindanao region, which are already announced.

1)"Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway Mindanao Section Rehabilitation Project (I and II)"

2) "Mindanao Container Terminal Project"

3) "Lower Agusan Development Project (Flood Control Component - Phase II)"

(Reference)

The long-lasting strife in the Mindanao region of the Philippines aggravated the issue of poverty in the area, creating a hotbed for terrorism. This also deteriorates the image of the Philippines as being attractive to foreign direct investment, thereby hampering the economic development of the Philippines as a whole. Furthermore, peace and stability of the region represent important conditions for the stability and prosperity of the Asian region.

Japan has strongly supported the policy of the Arroyo administration to simultaneously promote both the fight against poverty and the fight against terrorism. This Support Package aims at demonstrating Japan's active support for the Mindanao region, in order to contribute toward the escape from extreme poverty and the consolidation for peace in the region, which are among the most important policy objectives of the Arroyo administration.

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