Transition process for Bangsamoro on track: JICA head
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Tanaka Akihiko expressed belief that the transition process for Bangsamoro is on track.
"I believe the transitional process from my humble view is on track and I am quite hopeful that the Bangsamoro vision will have a successful election in 2025," Tanaka said in a press conference in Makati City on Thursday.
Tanaka gave his assessment after he met with the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament in Cotabato City on Wednesday.
Tanaka said despite the delay in the transition process due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted that the Bangsamoro development plan was passed during the deliberation of the parliament last Tuesday.
"I was very happy last night to hear from Chief Minister Al Haj Murad Ebrahim that the Bangsamoro development plan was deliberated in the parliament yesterday afternoon and has successfully passed," he said.
"And then I was told that the parliament is engaged in detailed deliberation in passing electoral law, the local government unit code, revenue code and these important codes are now being deliberated," he added.
Tanaka also stressed the significance of the commitment shown by the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to observe the transition process.
"It is unfortunate that because of the COVID-19 the process of the decommissioning of combatant(s) was delayed and so the election was postponed until 2025. But, as I observe the deliberation of the BTA, I think very serious discussions are now being made, and it is also significant that the Philippine government under the leadership of Marcos has shown a strong commitment to observe the process of this transition," he said.
Tanaka said it is the third time he has visited Bangsamoro since 2012 when he was first appointed as president of JICA.
"I am very happy to observe a significant progress has made in the Bangsamoro Region when I first visited there in 2012. I visited Camp Darapanan with escort by the MILF soldiers and the Cotabato City was then... calm but at night very dark. When I came back again in 2015, the night becomes brighter and so many more persons in the street than in 2012," he said.
"This time when I came back I was very much impressed by the thriving people of the Philippines in Cotabato. The night is much much brighter and the traffic is thriving maybe to the extent that it has become too congested. So this process, observation on what's going on physically... (there is) significant change but I think more significant will be the process of transition," he added.
In his speech before members of the BTA Parliament, Tanaka announced that "JICA is planning to invite some parliament members to Japan."
"We hope that it will be a great help for the BTA Parliament to build a better democratic system for the region, taking into account Japan's experiences, strengths and weaknesses and lessons learnt," he said.
Tanaka said the visit to Japan was not yet scheduled but he noted that JICA "would like to invite the delegation of the BTA parliament sometime this year." Robina Asido/DMS
