MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) expressed its commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict and attainment of a lasting peace and development in the Bangsamoro Region.
This was stressed by AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. following a meeting with members of the Bangsamoro Transition Committee (BTC) headed by its chair, Commissioner Ghazali Jaafar, at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Thursday afternoon.
“The cooperation and solidarity among us is necessary now more than ever, as we are only a few steps closer to achieving the objectives of the transition process. I trust that we shall see better days ahead for our brothers and sisters in Mindanao,” Galvez said.
Also present in the meeting were AFP vice chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Salvador Mison Jr.; deputy chief-of-staff Vice Admiral Gaudencio Collado Jr.; Western Mindanao Command head Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega; 1st Infantry Division chief Major Gen. Roseller Murillo; 6th Infantry Division commander Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, and the chiefs of the military’s joint and personal staff.
While Jaafar was joined by fellow commissioners Abdularaof Macacua, Ibrahim Ali, Haron Abas, Said Shiek, Hussein Muñoz, Melanio Ulama, Gafur Kainan, Ammal Solaiman, Dr. Susana Anayatin, and Romeo Saliga.
During the meeting, AFP Peace and Development Office head, Col. Cesar de Mesa, presented updates on the military’s efforts in support of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
Efforts are currently focused on ensuring the successful implementation of the various peace mechanisms, particularly, the AFP’s creation of organize Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST) with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Each JPST is composed of seven AFP, eight PNP and 15 MILF members. Initially, the AFP was able to train 14 teams which were deployed in Central and Western Mindanao last June. This number will continue to increase as the normalization process continues.
Jaafar thanked the AFP and all the agencies involved for their “collective effort” in pushing for peace and development in Mindanao.
“We pray to Allah and to your God that they will finally give peace to us,” he added.
Meanwhile, Galvez thanked the members of the BTC on behalf of the whole AFP.
“We convey our sincerest appreciation to all the honorable members of the Commission who served and especially those who are still serving since it was created in 2013,” he added. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
