European Union pours P8.5 billion for peace and development initiatives in Mindanao
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 13 February) – The European Union (EU) has poured assistance worth at least P8.5 billion for peace and development initiatives in Mindanao in the past five years , the bulk going to the fledging Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), EU Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro said.
Speaking during the 5th Bangsamoro International Development Partners Forum (BIDPF) early this week here, he noted that the EU has been a long-standing partner of the Philippines in supporting peace and development initiatives across Mindanao, particularly in the Bangsamoro region, in the last five decades.
“The European Union does not see itself as an external actor here. We see ourselves as a reliable partner, working hand-in-hand with national and Bangsamoro institutions to support Filipino-led solutions for peace, development, and inclusive growth,” Santoro said.
“We have been a long-standing partner for peace and development in Mindanao … From the small-scale EU project that started in Mindanao in the 70s, our initiatives have evolved into a wide-ranging dialogue and actions,” he added.
Santoro stressed the EU is proud to have become one of the biggest development partners of the BARMM over the decades.
In the BARMM, he said the EU has been supporting the Bangsamoro peace process by extending assistance for its political transition as well as the socioeconomic recovery of conflict-affected areas in the region.
Santoro lauded the BARMM for celebrating its seventh foundation anniversary recently, saying that “this journey towards peace and development gives us a lot of reasons to celebrate today.”
The BARMM was established in 2019 as an offshoot of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed by the Philippine government and the erstwhile rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front. They signed the CAB in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations. Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law was ratified in January 2019, paving the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro autonomous region.
“Since 2020 … the European Union has invested (at least) 8.5 billion pesos in Mindanao, with a significant part of these programs directly benefiting the BARMM,” Santoro said.
Organized by the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA), the 5th BIDPF was held here on February 9 with the theme “From Promise to Prosperity: Celebrating Gains, Accelerating BARMM’s Transformation Through Strategic Partnerships.”
Engr. Mohajirin Ali, BPDA director general, earlier said the BIDPF “is not merely a donors’ forum but also a partnership process moving from fragmented aid toward strategic synergy.”
“The BARMM has reached a defining moment. For the past seven years, our narrative has been one of promise—the promise of self-determination, peace, and a government conveying the moral and cultural aspirations of the Bangsamoro people,” he said in a statement.
Santoro said the EU assistance in the Bangsamoro transition period includes at least “100 strategic interventions, which significantly had an impact in BARMM ministries, offices, and agencies within the BTA.”
BTA means the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the interim body tasked to govern the BARMM.
For peace and development initiatives, he said the EU has been providing assistance to the communities in the six MILF camps recognized by the government and MILF peace panels.
Santoro said the EU has been supporting the Bangsamoro Agri-Enterprise Program, which aims to uplift the lives of farmers and fisherfolks by linking them to the markets, as well as bringing potential private investors to the region.
He noted the EU support to BARMM is fully aligned with the Bangsamoro Development Plan, the region’s economic and development blueprint.
Santoro assured that the EU will remain a development partner of BARMM and the wider Mindanao region. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
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