Sabah issue will not affect Sajahatra Bangsamoro projects — official

Despite reports claiming that the recent Sabah standoff involving some 400 Filipinos was meant to derail the gains of the Bangsamoro peace deal, a Malacañang official said plans are still on track for the government’s livelihood programs in the Mindanao region. “The projects in Mindanao will now push through. Sajahatra is going to push through. We are already planning for the next phases of the Sajahatra’s,” Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras said in Cebu, following President Benigno Aquino III’s attendance to the inauguration of Mactan Newtown there. “As a matter of fact, the [peace] panel is in Kuala Lumpur for discussion and part of the discussion is the Sajahatra,” Almendras added. The government in October signed a landmark peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with the help of the Malaysian government. The deal seeks the creation of a new Bangsamoro political entity to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. The Sajahatra Bangsamoro program is President Benigno Aquino III's concrete, socio-economic peace initiative that aims to uplift the health, education and livelihood conditions of MILF communities towards realizing lasting peace and development for the Bangsamoro people and the entire country. Aquino became the first president to set foot in an MILF camp during peace time during the launch of program in Sultan Kudarat last February 11. Almendras said he does not think the Sabah issue necessitates a full Cabinet meeting. “I don’t think you need to call a full Cabinet meeting po. I can assure you that the President is on top of the situation. It just that there are some things that are best handled in smaller groups so it’s not a full Cabinet issue,” he said. Some 400 people, including 20 gunmen, have been in a standoff with Malaysian police in Sabah since they crossed over there early this month supposedly to reclaim the area as their ancestral territory. The group's leader, Sultan Jamalul Kiram. said his followers will not leave Sabah despite being cornered by security forces. — Patricia Denise Chiu/KBK, GMA News