The government is ready to go back to the negotiating table with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino Razon Jr. said Monday. Razon made the announcement during the signing ceremony of the nine projects under the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD) at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Center, Pasig City. “The GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) is ready (to resume the peace negotiations),” Razon said in a press conference. “We will never give up on peace…I know there will be obstacles along the way, but I am confident that we can resolve our differences,” he added. Razon called on the MILF to “bury animosity for the sake of our children and our children's children.” He said this is only possible if both parties work together toward a “lasting and genuine” peace in Mindanao. Razon also thanked the Japanese government for their support to the peace process. He said the assistance extended to the country has “emboldened” the government to appeal to the MILF leaders to resume peace talks the soonest time. Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Makoto Katsura, who represented his country at the signing ceremony, said that since J-BIRD's launching in December 2006, Japan has funded 23 grassroots projects totaling US $ 1.3 million or some P62 million as part of Japan's “commitment to support peace and development efforts in Mindanao.” “Japan's commitment supporting peace and development in Mindanao is a strong indication that Japan is ready to extend its helping hand for the reconstruction of (countries) ravaged by war,” Razon added. Peace talks with the MILF bogged down in August last year following the aborted signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which the Supreme Court has declared as unconstitutional. “Let not history judge that we squandered the opportunity to achieve peace in Southern Philippines,” Razon said. Among the officials present at the signing were Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Rafael Seguis who is also the chairman of the GRP panel that will negotiate with the MILF and Dr. Danda Juanday, chair of the Bangsamoro Development Authority (BDA).
