MANILA — The government peace panel in talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) reiterated today the firm resolve of the Aquino administration to bring peace and development to Mindanao despite the controversies and political issues. “We have seen this strong commitment as early as President Aquino’s inauguration in 2010,” government peace panel chair Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said. During his inauguration in June 30, 2010, Aquino declared his government “will be sincere in dealing with all the peoples of Mindanao,” adding “we are committed to a peaceful and just settlement of conflict, inclusive of the interests of all—they be Lumads, Bangsamoro, or Christian.” “There have been so many challenges along the way, but President Aquino remains determined to bring peace to Mindanao, and with the people’s support, we have gone this far in the process,” said Ferrer. Ferrer cited the +23 public rating on the admi-nistration’s efforts in “Restoring peace to Mindanao,” up from +12 in March, with majority of Filipinos (52%) expressing satisfaction as shown in the Second Quarter 2015 survey of the Social Weather Stations. “We had Al-Barka in 2011, the Sabah standoff and the Zamboanga siege in 2013, and the tragedy in Mamasapano early this year. While the peace process did not cause these events, we cannot deny that they are related,” Ferrer said. (OPAPP)