By Teng Lauban Datu
Cotabato City Bureau Chief .
CAMP SIONCO, Maguindanao — In a bid to synchronize efforts of the Government of the Philippines and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) interim government in the implementation of the Normalization Track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization (ICCMN) held its second meeting last Friday in this municipality.
Launched in June of this year, the ICCMN is a multi-agency body tasked to consolidate and integrate the interventions of the national government in line with the Normalization Phase, particularly those focused on the decommissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front combatants and their weapons, and the transformation of their camps into peaceful, resilient and progressive communities.
The meeting, the first time to be held in Mindanao, was participated in by Barmm cabinet ministers together with other high-ranking officials of the newly-established regional government and representatives of the security sector. The gathering is considered the first high-level dialogue between cabinet officials of the Philippine and Barmm governments.
“Today is a historic day because as we begin our second ICCMN meeting, we are holding it here in Cotabato and in front of the different Ministers of Barmm,” said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, co-chairperson of the ICCMN.
According to Nograles, the ICCMN meeting “is a very important step and a milestone in the Barmm to showcase our commitment to work closely with officials of Barmm so that, hand in hand, we can usher peace and development in Mindanao, particularly in this part of Mindanao.”
In response, the Barmm cabinet ministers threw their full support behind the ICCMN, saying they will ensure that all the programs and projects to be implemented by their offices will “mirror” those to be implemented under the Normalization Track.
The ICCMN is made up of four clusters which are anchored on the four major components of the Normalization track: security aspect, socio-economic development program, confidence-building measures, and transitional justice and reconciliation. (with reports from bpi-barmm)
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