MANILA, 28 July — Calling for peace and religious tolerance in the southern Philippines, President Gloria Arroyo asked the help of Islamic scholars in getting the country’s Muslim population to recognize that the country had a multi-ethnic society.
Speaking before a gathering of Muslim leaders in Marawi City, 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of Manila, Arroyo said peace and development should go hand-in-hand, but without compromising national unity and “territorial integrity.”
“There is no sense to buy peace by dividing the country’s prosperity and territory,” Arroyo said during a visit to the predominantly Muslim city, site of a violent secessionist movement since the 1960s.
Arroyo, accompanied by Gov. Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), was the keynote speaker of the 2rd national conference of the Ulama League of the Philippines (ULP).
“Filipinos should realize that Philippine society is a multi-ethnic one which should be founded on social justice for all,” a palace statement quoted Arroyo as saying.
“My attitudes as president now... are based on understanding, tolerance and strong faith in the goodness of the almighty,” Arroyo said, adding this formed the basis of her peace efforts.
She cited the peace accord signed in 1996 between the government and the former Muslim separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which she said was being fully implemented, bringing peace and development to impoverished Muslim areas.
Arroyo said development efforts would be coordinated with the leadership in Mindanao, a Muslim autonomous region.
Parouk Hussin, Arroyo’s candidate, won last year’s election for governor, and Manila has signed a cease-fire with one separatist group while pursuing the extremist Abu Sayyaf group as a band of bandits.
On Friday, Arroyo led the electrification of 21 barangays, or districts, in the nearby Lanao del Sur.
Arroyo said Muslims in Mindanao should recognize the country’s multi-ethnicity and called for religious tolerance to re-establish peace.
“Islam is a religion of peace and forgiveness,” she said, adding Mindanao “is a wondrous testimony to our rich and varied heritage as a nation.”
Arroyo also said the region now has a security force of 1,500 former rebels, with 750 others in the process of being integrated into the military and police.
In her speech yesterday, Arroyo took the occasion to ask the moderate ulema group to help defeat extremism, which she said was destroying the name of Islam.
Contrary to “lies” spread by anti-government forces, she added, the war on terrorism was not singling out Muslims.
“We don’t discriminate in terms of religion,” the president said.
“We are not waging religious wars, we are promoting religious understanding,” she added.
She said the government was not hunting down Abu Sayyaf bandits because they were Muslims.
“They are criminals masquerading as champions of Islam,” Arroyo said. “They are traitors to the tenets of Islam, which is a religion of peace and forgiveness.” (With reports from Arab News wires)
