Expedite peace talks with MILF - Angara

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara advocated yesterday the immediate resumption of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) so that P25 billion could immediately be poured into Mindanao for its development.

Angara , chair of the Senate committee on peace and reconciliation, said that the peace agreement between the government and MILF panels is very near to being concluded, and that all it takes is a little push to move forward.

"The only unresolved issue is that on imminent domain involving 1,200 barangays. This is not impossible to resolve," he said.

Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao supported Angara's call to expedite the peace talks with the MILF.

"This is appreciated by the people of Central Mindanao who are in the center of the conflict," Ampatuan told Angara during his recent campaign in Sharif Aguak.

Angara said that the conclusion of the peace talks would result in the faster development of Mindanao . He pointed out that the United States , the European Union, Japan and the Asian Development Bank had pledged to invest P25 billion in Mindanao once a peace agreement with the MILF is signed.

"With the P25 billion, we can build a trans-Mindanao railroad system, enhance agri-business, generate more jobs, build more schools and improve the delivery of health services," he explained.

He predicted that with improved peace and order in the entire Mindanao , the island would be the main focus of potential investors in agri-business.

"The Department of Labor and Employment said about 2 million jobs would be generated by agri-business in the next three years or until 2010. If there is peace in Mindanao , most of the new jobs would be generated in Mindanao ," said Angara , a former agriculture secretary.

He stressed that Mindanao would not be the lone beneficiary of a peace pact between the government and the MILF.

"The government is spending almost P1 billion a month for the armed forces to maintain peace in Mindanao . Once peace is secured, close to P12 billion a year would be freed and be made available for much needed social services in the country," Angara said.