MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/28 March) – Any move for peace such as the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) should be welcomed despite apprehensions on how it would be eventually implemented, Malaybalay Bishop Jose Cabantan on Thursday said.
“There might be apprehensions whether this law will fully be implemented. Yet it’s better to have crafted one than nothing at all,” he told MindaNews via telephone as the historic document was being signed in Malacanang Palace’s Kalaayaan Gardens.
He said he hoped all these endeavors will result to lasting peace in Mindanao.
“Let’s continue to pray to the God of Peace for that,” he added via SMS.
The Diocese of Malaybalay includes the predominantly Christian town of Wao in Lanao del Sur.
Several Wao residents have signed a manifesto expressing their desire to be excluded from the proposed Bangsamoro political entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by 2016.
Meanwhile, Roderico Bioco, president of the Bukidnon Kaamulan Chamber of Commerce and Industry admitted he was not familiar about the CAB.
“But I hope it is going to bring true peace (in Mindanao),” he said.
Bioco stressed during the chamber’s general membership meeting that among the imperatives for the business sector is to know the situation and to have peace and order.
“For us it is important to create the healthy environment for business and more investments to come in,” he said, adding peace and order is among the key advocacies of the chamber.
(Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)
