DAVAO CITY — The Embassy of Japan hosted a ‘Bangsamoro Friends Forum’ last week, to discuss the key developments of the Bangsamoro peace process and of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
The forum, held at Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex in Cotabato City, was attended by the members of the BTA, BARMM ministers, partner stakeholders, and representatives from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
The Embassy of Japan delegates were led by Chief of Mission Yamamoto Yasushi and Iori Kato from the United Nations Resident Coordinator.Yamamoto said, “We share with the government the dream of enjoyed peace and a better life for the Bangsamoro.”
Meanwhile, Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod ‘Al Haj Murad’ Ebrahim expressed his gratitude to the Japan United Nations – Philippines for being steadfast in supporting the Bangsamoro Government.
“We have always been fortunate to have worked with your esteemed organization from our guerilla days in the field to the exhausting yet rewarding peace process, to the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and now, the transition phase of the new bureaucracy,” said the chief minister in his speech read by Executive Secretary Abdulraof Macacua.
“Thank you for believing that one day we can live in peace in the Bangsamoro and we can build a government that we can call our own,” he added.Furthermore, Chief Minister said he was fortunate to build friendships, with those who support the Bangsamoro, that can “stand through the test of time” and “go beyond the halls of bureaucracy and formalities.”
Discussed during the forum were the Bangsamoro normalization process, budget appropriation for the BTA, and updates in the Inter-Governmental Relations Body. –PR/BPI
