Cotobato City – President Arroyo’s suspension of military offensives (SOMO) and the positive response of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with its suspension of military actions (SOMA) continued to gain support as the powerful European Commission (EC) delegation in the Philippines added its voice in hailing the truce.

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo also commended the two parties for their agreement in “establishing a mechanism on the protection of non-combatants in armed conflict.”

Quevedo expressed hope that this will also pave the way for the non-combatants’ safe return home and the rehabilitation of their homes and other properties damaged in the fighting.

“I also hope that to build confidence, the two parties collaborate on bringing the present ‘bakwits’ home and rehabilitate their homes and properties before Ramadan,” the Catholic prelate said, a staunch advocate of peace and Christian-Muslim harmony.

A schedule of Muslim festivals and holidays in the Philippines as gathered by the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) puts the first day of Ramadan tentatively on August 22.

Ambassador Alistair Macdonald, head of the EC delegation to the Philippines, representing the interest and activities of the 27-member states European Union (EU), led EU ambassadors on a visit to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), particularly in Maguindanao to see for themselves the situation of the multitude of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the various evacuation centers.

With MacDonald were French Ambassador Thierry Borja de Mozota, Ambassador Robert Brinks of The Netherlands and World Food Program Country Director Steven Anderson.

They checked on the IDPs (evacuees or bakwits) at the evacuation centers in the towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Datu Piang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Talayan, talked personally to the local officials and the IDPs to learn their plight.

MacDonald took advantage of the recent ARMM visit to hail the decision of the Philippine government and the MILF to stop the resurgence of fighting in Central Mindanao.

In a statement from the ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information (BPI-ARMM), it quoted MacDonald as saying he was optimistic that both sides’ suspension of military offensives will pave the way for peace in Mindanao.

Mozota cited the evacuees desire to go home to their villages. “We have to spend a little time to see the IDPs and talk to the people on the ground and we have seen their miseries at the evacuation centers, that’s why I am convinced that they have been wanting to return back home,” the French envoy said.