October 12, 2012 News: The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has congratulated the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the breakthrough on the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

In an official statement released through a spokesman last Tuesday, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of OIC expressed congratulations to both the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for reaching a “Framework Agreement” to end the long standing conflict in Mindanao.

The Secretary General expressed the hope that it will pave the way for a just and lasting peace for the Bangsamoro people who have suffered too long and endured huge sacrifices. He commended also the indispensible role played by Malaysia as a facilitator of the process.

He said the OIC has been seized with this problem since its foundation and has successfully brokered both the 1976 Tripoli Agreement and the 1996 Jakarta Final Peace Agreement between GPH and the MNLF.

The spokesman disclosed that the OIC received the news with both hope and cautious optimism, hoping that it will constitute a solid foundation for an overall agreement that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Bangsamoro people. The OIC hopes that this will usher in a new phase of consolidating peace and start the long awaited development process of the region.

As this developed, both the MILF and GPH have extended invitations to the OIC officials to attend the formal signing of the peace pact in Manila on October 15 at the Malacañang Palace.

Initial report reaching Luwaran stated that the OIC is considering sending high level officials to the signing ceremony in Manila but their identities are not yet disclosed.

However, in the case of the GPH-MILF peace negotiations in Kuala Lumpur, where the OIC had secured the green light to observe, the OIC had sent Mr. Ali Demirci, a Turkish and a senior member of the pan-Islamic group, while Tahir Saif, a Yemeni by origin, also a senior OIC official, represented the OIC chief during the MILF-sponsored Moro Leaders’ Assembly in Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on July 6-9, 2012.

Five hundred fifty thousand people from all over Mindanao attended the four-day assembly. Some came from as far as Palawan and Manila in Luzon.

The OIC Secretary General, among others, urged the MNLF and MILF leaders to close their ranks and put up a unified stand for the achievement of their aspiration in Mindanao.