Seven students were killed and 40 more were wounded, none of them older than 14. This was a few months before the signing of the Tripoli Agreement. All actors in Mindanao, both government and Muslims, still believe in the peace process. There is a growing view in Mindanao that the real solution is development. The Mindanao Coordination Council, chaired by the president is supposed to rehabilitate and reconstruct Mindanao.
Development is key to sustainable peace.
War has caused the establishment of various peace and development advocacy groups in Mindanao such as women's groups and children's organizations. This is departure from the policy of using the peace process. But now there is an all-out war against the MILF and the BM people. The military solution has made 300,000 civilians evacuees, most of them women, children and the aged. In Malacanang briefing, Fr.