Ambassador Visits Cotabato
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and U.S. Ambassador Francis
Ricciardone, assisted by Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema (right),
cut the ribbon to inaugurate on June 13 a grains warehouse that
is part of over P1-million worth of post-harvest facilities established
under the Livelihood Enhancement and Peace (LEAP) Program. Sponsored
by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the
LEAP Program helps former combatants of the Moro National Liberation
Front (MNLF) and former MNLF-occupied communities achieve peace
and economic development.
Related
link: The USAID-assisted LEAP Program
At the ceremony inaugurating the post-harvest facilities
established under the U.S.-assisted Livelihood Enhancement and
Peace (LEAP) Program, President Macapagal-Arroyo was accompanied
by (left to right:) Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus
Dureza, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman,
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Parouk Hussin, and
National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Teresita Deles. In
her remarks, President Arroyo commended the U.S. government for
its commitment to help bring about peace and economic development
in Mindanao. ELAP and SWIFT, the two previous USAID-assisted programs
that were eventually combined and expanded into the LEAP Program,
had benefited 13,000 former MNLF combatants and 350 MNLF communities.
The ongoing LEAP Program aims to all the approximately 12,000
former MNLF combatants who still need assistance in developing
the ability to make a continuing living for themselves and their
families.
(Photo above:) Earlier in the day of his June 13
visit to Cotabato, key MNLF officials briefed him on their initiatives
to sustain the 1996 peace agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine
government. (Photo below:) At the meeting with the Ambassador
were (left to right:) LEAP Program Chief of Party Noel Ruiz; MNLF
Sebangan Kutawato State Chairman Datu Dima Ambil; MNLF Central
Kutawato State Chairman Alano Bansawan; MNLF OIC Chairman Hatimil
Hassan; and USAID-Philippines Economic Growth Advisor Robert Barnes.
(Photo above:) During a welcome luncheon hosted
by Cotabato City Mayor and MNLF Secretary General Muslimin Sema
(center), Ambassador Ricciardone listens as ARMM Regional Legislative
Assembly Speaker Ismael Abubakar explains a point. (Photo below:)
Joining the Ambassador and Mayor Sema at the luncheon were: Metro
Cotatabto Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dr. Danda
Juanday; USAID-Philippine Economic Growth Advisor Robert Barnes;
ARMM-ELA Speaker Abubakar; Bangsamoro Women Foundation for Peace
Inc. (BMWFI) OIC Chair Bai Sandra Sema; BMWFI Executive Director
Fr. Alfonso Carino; Ambassador Ricciardone’s daughter Chiara;
and USAID-Philippines Deputy Director Francis Donovan.
The Ambassador (left) also met with representatives
of various USAID-assisted programs in Mindanao for an update on
their activities. The programs include Growth with Equity in Mindanao
(GEM), Transparent and Accountable Governance (TAG), Enhanced
and Rapid Improvement of Community Health (EnRICH), Alliance for
Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy (AMORE), Barangay Justice Service
System (BJSS), and the Mindanao Emergency Network-Save the Children
Foundation.
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