Muslims, Christians, Rally Behind Loren In Pangasinan

MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS CONVERGED INTO A CHEERING CROWD OF ABOUT 4,000 IN POZORRUBIO IN PANGASINAN ON SATURDAY TO WELCOME NATIONALIST PEOPLE’S COALITION (NPC), NACIONALISTA PARTY (NP) AND LABAN NG DEMOKRATIKONG PILIPINO (LDP) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LOREN LEGARDA, ALONG WITH RUNNING-MATE MANNY VILLAR AND THE SENATORIAL BETS OF THE NACIONALISTA PARTY.
“This is really very encouraging,” Legarda said. “As you know, uniting Muslims and Christians, particularly in battle-scarred Mindanao has always been part of my dream.”
For the past decade, Pozorrubio has evolved into a community of Muslim settlers living peacefully with Christians.
In earlier statements, Legarda stressed the need for a government peace panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to forge a lasting peace in resource-rich but violence-torn Mindanao.
She warned negotiators, however, to be wary of forging a pact that would be hinge on changes to the Constitution that would be “untenable” for the next administration, whoever its key officials might be, if the pact should turn out to be “inequitable” for either side.
Legarda, an honorary Marawi princess, stressed that any pact would have to keep the country united by common political goals and not alienated from each other by conflicting cultures, particularly religion.