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Manila: The European Union has pledged an additional 4 million euros (Dh6.2 million) in assistance to Mindanao if the government pursues a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
This is in addition to 120 million euros worth of assistance already promised.
Various European ambassadors have concluded a visit to strife-torn Mindanao areas and have "made a positive assessment" of the peace situation, said Gabriel Munuera Vinals, the head of trade, political and economic division of the Delegation of the European Commission in the country.
"There has been a dramatic decrease in violence in Mindanao because of the presence of the International Monitoring Team [IMT]. So there is a certain prospect of a peace agreement [to be signed with the MILF]" said Vinals in an interview. The EU has allocated a total of 120 million euros to fund programmes that could reduce conflict in Mindanao in the last seven to ten years. He said the regional bloc has also contributed an additional 2 million euros for the World Bank Mindanao Trust Fund.
However, he said the peace process being pushed through with the MILF faces challenges including the failure in implementing the 1996 peace agreement between the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Vinals said the failure to implement the peace deal's economic aspects continue to push Mindanao into dire poverty. "If there is a substantial progress in the peace process [with MILF], we have further assistance for the Mindanao worth 3-4 million euros," he added. Earlier, the government said it is willing to ink a peace pact with the MILF before the August elections in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
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