Layan Damanhouri

 

The secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been holding continuous back-to-back meetings during a four-day visit to the Philippines to push through a peace agreement and an autonomous government in the country’s southern region.



Following recent tragic incidents that have delayed the peace process, Iyad Madani’s visit to the Philippines at a critical time was welcomed by all parties.



The country’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in his meeting with Madani on April 17 that “the Philippine government appreciates the role of the OIC in bringing peace to the southern Philippines.”



The same sentiment was echoed in meetings with the presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles, house speaker Feliciano Belmonte and several senators and congressmen.



Madani was scheduled to meet with President Benigno Aquino today (Monday). The secretary general also reviewed the peace process with ambassadors of OIC member states posted in Manila during a dinner hosted by Saudi Ambassador Abdullah Al-Bussairy.



On Saturday, Madani flew to Davao in the southern Philippines, the first visit by an OIC secretary general to the region, to meet with the two main Muslim groups leading the struggle for autonomy over the past five decades, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).



His visit to Mindanao was greeted by the two groups who came from different parts of the region to meet him.



The secretary general met with each group separately on Saturday and Sunday to bring the views and expectations of the two sides closer together.



Madani stressed on the need for unity, agreement and consideration of the role and importance of each group to achieve peace and prosperity in the region.



He then chaired the meeting of the Bangsamoro Coordinating Forum (BCF), first initiated last year to encourage the two Moro fronts to work together.



Both sides agreed that the forum was the best mechanism for discussion and exchange of views.



They agreed to continue to exert their efforts toward the peace process. The secretary general invited the BCF members to hold its next meeting on the sidelines of the 42nd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Kuwait on May 27.