Japan will be major donor to implementation of BOL

MANILA -- As the second Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite capped off on February 6, Japanese Ambassador to Manila Koji Haneda said his country would be a “major assistance donor” to the Philippines in its implementation.

“We already extended assistance to the BOL process and we hope that this would be a success, this is very important to Mindanao and the Philippines but it will give very positive impact in the region,” Haneda told reporters on the eve of foreign Minister Taro Kono’s official visit to the Philippines.

“We have been and we are going to be a major assistance donor to the Philippines as far as the BOL is concerned,” he added.

The envoy said the Bangsamoro peace process is among the areas Kono and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. would be discussing in a bilateral meeting in Davao on Sunday. But among others, the two envoy would also discuss Japan’s “economic assistance on various projects” including on infrastructure.

The Commission on Elections en banc, sitting as the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers, proclaimed the ratification of

the BOL after canvassing all four Certificates of Canvass of the first BOL plebiscite last January 21.

On Wednesday, the second phase of the plebiscite concluded with a 75 percent voter turnout from the towns of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan, and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte; and in the municipalities of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit, and Pigcawayan in North Cotabato.

In a recent interview, Japan International Cooperation Agency Senior Representative Yo Ebisawa said Tokyo’s support to the peace process in Mindanao “was there” even before the approval of the BOL in July 2018.

On its implementation, Ebisawa told the Philippine News Agency that Tokyo would fund projects for the reintegration of excombatants into the society and the new autonomous political entity that will be established in 2022. (PNA)