MARAWI CITY, February 4, 2016--During his visit in Mindanao State University, Marawi City, His Excellency US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg expressed the support of the United States to the peace process in Mindanao.
In his speech during the Opening Ceremony of the ACCESS Program, a US Embassy-sponsored microscholarship in Lanao del Sur, Goldberg said that the support of the US in the peace process is not just in words but through the deeds in carrying out projects trying to help the population and develop the youth in the region.
Goldberg said as a rection to the  MILF statement that the failure of the passage of BBL can cause radicalization of the Moro that "The people in this region, the people of the Philippines want peace in Mindanao. And so, while we don't take a position as a foreign embassy on domestic legislation like the BBL, we certainly have done things to try to underpin the peace process to try to help people in this region and we hope that everybody rededicates themselves to the peace process and find way forward. And that's for Filipinos to work out and we will support that process."
The President of Mindanao State University System, Dr. Macapado Muslim, expressed gratitude to the United States. He said that if MSU became the second strongest state university in the country, that is because of the good beginning of the university in the 60s which was anchored largely on the support of the United States government.
Moreover, Muslim reiterated that America is a dependable ally of the Bangsamoro people and as a payback, he told Goldberg, to expect their continuing support of the US government initiatives in Mindanao.