WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS
By Bien Lumbera
Chair, CenPEG Board of Directors

Distinguished guests, fellow peace advocates, friends, ladies and gentlemen:

On behalf of the organizers of this important event today, I would like to welcome you all to the "Peace Conference on the Bangsamoro Question: Bridging Unity on the History and Future of the Peace Talks to Resolve the Bangsamoro Issues in Mindanao."

Today's peace conference is the second of a series of forums and activities sponsored by CenPEG and the UP Institute of Islamic Studies together with the Pilgrims for Peace, InPeace Mindanao and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) aimed at arousing interest among the academe, communities, and NGOs in the search for long-term solutions to the Bangsamoro struggle for self-determination and the armed conflicts in Mindanao. The first activity – a forum on the theme, "Ancestral Land: The Core Issue of the GPH-MILF Peace Talks" – was held on February 9 coinciding with the resumption of exploratory talks between the Government and the MILF in Kuala Lumpur. The February 9 forum, held at the Asian Center here in UP, had two former chairpersons of the GRP, namely, former Secretary Rodolfo Garcia and former Secretary Silvestre Afable together with Prof. Julkipli Wadi, who is the Dean of the UP IIS, as resource speakers.

The forum concluded with the launching of CenPEG's latest book, Bangsamoro sa Malapitan: Pagpupunyagi sa Sariling Pagpapasya. The book gives an alternative perspective to the ongoing armed conflict in Mindanao with the ancestral land and the Moro armed struggle as the historical issue. Soon to be translated in English, the book is written by Lualhati Abreu, a CenPEG Fellow and UP centennial awardee for literature.

Ladies and gentlemen: We are proud to have with us today, Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles who is also the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and Datu Michael Mastura, Senior Member of the MILF Peace Panel, as Main Speakers in today's peace conference in the morning and afternoon sessions, respectively.

We also acknowledge the presence of UP President Alfredo E. Pascual, a Fellow Peace Advocate in his own right, for his generous support to holding this peace conference. (And we hope this will not be the first and last time that the Office of the UP President will play an active role as a key partner in peace advocacy, and in policy research and academic engagement in policy issues.)

Today's Peace Conference aims to:

Help unify and bridge unity among various sectors from the academe, the community of NGOS and CSOs toward a better understanding of the advocacy for the Moro issues from a historical perspective;

Promote a framework of just and lasting peace by gaining a better understanding of the problems of the Moro people and the history of challenges and initiatives by government and other stakeholders in the peace process;

Provide an informed and enlightened discussion on the issues and concerns in the search for peace with the participation of major stakeholders in dialogue with a community of scholars and advocates of the peace process;

Provide additional reference notes for the continuing policy research of the organizers and other interested parties involved in the study of the peace process in the Philippines.

Also with us this morning – or in the afternoon – are former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., who is also the former chair of the GRP peace panel in peace talks with the NDFP; former Rep. Satur Ocampo, former chair of the NDFP peace panel; His Excellency Dato Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad, Malaysian Ambassador; His Excellency Hos Sereythonh, Ambassador of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia; Shane Male, Mindanao office of the British Embassy; Ms. Maria Lourdes Jacob, executive director of the NCCA; former ARMM Gov. Dr. Parouk Hussin; Bishop Gabriel Garol; former Secretary Rodolfo Garcia; Fr. Rex Reyes, general secretary of the NCCP; Atty. Jaira Wahab, head of the GPH legal team on behalf of its chair, Law Dean Marvic Leonen; Dr. Dante Simbulan; Ms. Amina Rasul of the PCID; former IIS Dean Carmen Abubakar and current Dean Julkipli Wadi; Dr. Temario Rivera; Sr. Noemi Francisco of InPeace Mindanao; and Gen. (ret.) Noemi Francisco.

Maraming salamat!

And now, allow me to introduce our first Speaker. Hon. Teresita "Ging" Quintos Deles heads the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP). She was the Executive Director of the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute (1991-2001) and co-founder, PILIPINA, which spearheaded the formation of Abanse! Pinay. Secretary Deles was also an expert-member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (UN-CEDAW, 1992-1993).