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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

RIVERMAN’S VISTA: Mindanao Specter over APEC Summit

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews /19 Sept) — The Philippines will have a good moment in the sun in November when we host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit. Its an opportune time to be holding the APEC Summit in our country with the Philippine economy performing well and the President Aquino’s performance and trust ratings back at high levels. The summit’s coinciding with the opening salvos of the 2016 election campaign is also a good thing; we can show off our working democracy with all the noise and intensity that accompanies it. There will of course be some inconveniences, with traffic likely to be a sore thumb that week. That the days of the summit, November 18 and 19, have been declared non-working holidays will hopefully ease gridlock and make Manila a more pleasant experience for our visitors.
As we prepare for the APEC summit, it should be said that the government and the private sector has done a really good job in making our hosting of APEC world-class. The preparatory conferences have been done well and without a hitch. It seems that the participants in all these pre-Summit meetings have been enjoying them and have maximized their value for economic and cultural exchange.
I was in the government in 1996 when the Philippines last hosted the APEC Summit with President Fidel V. Ramos welcoming the leaders to Manila. That was challenging to do and we did that well. The Aquino government has done the same and risen to the challenge. It should be congratulated for its good preparations.
I am personally hoping for the success of the summit. In fact, I am preparing now a series of welcoming articles to publish during that period to help the country have a good and united face before the visitors.
Recently, however, two developments from Mindanao threaten to be a specter over the APEC Summit. These are the Bangsamoro question and the Lumad killings. I urge our decision-makers to pay attention to these two matters so the country does not suffer a black eye during the run-up to the summit. Maybe I might be exaggerating this, but I am concerned that things could come to a head on these issues in November and crises could flare up if they are not addressed early.
For the Bangsamoro question, by November, we should have clarity on whether a Bangsamoro Basic Law will be enacted by Congress and on whether that law is acceptable to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). While the MILF leadership has promised that there will be no going back to war if there is no BBL or if the one enacted does not conform with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, tensions would sure rise and probably reach a crescendo in November, coinciding with the APEC Summit. - From mindanews.com 

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