DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 August) – Peace stakeholders in Mindanao led by Cardinal Orlando Quevedo are seeking an audience with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to break the impasse between the peace implementing panels of the government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), on the issue of decommissioning of combatants and weapons, as well as urge them to attend to the other major concerns in the implementation of the 2014 peace agreement.
“First issue would be regarding the impasse that has been reached in the decommissioning. We have to ask the President to meet the MILF implementing panel and the government implementing panel to thresh out this issue and to discuss the steps forward after taking care of the issue,” the 86-year old Quevedo, a relative of the President on the Edralin side, told a press conference here at the end of “Titayan 2: Bridging to Sustain Peace in the Bangsamoro” forum. Titayan is Maguindanao word for bridge.
“The issue is not something insoluble. It’s a matter of dialogue between the two implementing panels,” Quevedo stressed.
He said they will also bring up the issues on wealth-sharing and transitional justice when they meet with the President hopefully on the first week of September.
The chairs of the peace implementing panels – Cesar Yano for the GPH and Mohagher Iqbal for the MILF – faced at least a hundred participants from civil society organizations on Tuesday, Day 1 of Titayan 2, to report on the status of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and respond to questions.
Quevedo, lead convenor of Friends of Peace, convened Titayan 2 on August 19 and 20 to provide a venue for dialogue on sustaining peace in the six-year old Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Established in February 2019 following the ratification of the CAB’s enabling law – the Organic Law for the BARMM, the region is on an extended transition period until October 30, 2025 when the first elected Members of Parliament take over. The MPs elect the Chief Minister.
The campaign period for the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections on October 13 starts on August 28.
Historic
The historic meeting was the first huge gathering of CSOs in conversations with the panel chairs since the peace implementing panels first formally met on August 13, 2016 in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the third party facilitator in the GPH-MILF peace talks. Titayan 2 was on the invitation of Quevedo, who also convened Titayan 1 nine years ago, in April 2016.
In the proposed meeting in Malacanang, Quevedo said it is important that both the heads of the implementing panels will be there “so that both of them will be facing the President with our own civil society organizations present. And that we make sure that they discuss (the issues).”
After listening to the panel chairs’ updates, the on-the-ground reports from CSOs on the first day and the group workshops on the second day, Quevedo thanked the 114 participants from 66 organizations (116 participants from 68 organizations, the secretariat later said in an update). He said he would collect all the proposals and select about five to bring to Malacanang.
“I would like to bring representatives of Titayan 2 with me to Malacanang,” he said, adding he would like to be accompanied by a member of the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples, a woman representative, a member of the MILF panel “particularly Iqbal,” someone from the government panel, a Muslim religious leader, a member of the BIWAB as “that will also be part of the conversation that we have about the packages for women in the decommissioning process.”
He also invited former GPH peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, who was among the participants, to join them in Malacanang as the signatory of the Bangsamoro peace agreement on behalf of the government in March 2014. Iqbal signed for the MILF.
At the press conference, he said he hopes Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, MILF chair and interim Chief Minister of the BARMM from February 2019 to March 2025, will be there, “but I think Iqbal speaks for Murad, especially since Murad is not in good health, I understand.”
He said in the meeting with the President, they “will not go to the specifics, only proposals that are very important, of the Titayan 2. He will be there and he will surely listen. He cannot just close his ears. He will listen to various voices that represent civil society organizations in Titayan, people of different faiths and cultures, Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples plus religious leaders of the Muslims -Darul Ifta, and the religious leaders of various faiths like Pentecostals. He will listen to us I think.”
Easing the tension
Guiamel Alim, Executive Director of Kadtuntaya Foundation and the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, said they want to see a scenario that will help ease “the tension at the moment” between government and MILF especially before the October elections.
“And that is why Titayan 2 is working hard that before the election will take place, the tension is already partially or totally resolved so that the environment will be conducive for everyone to participate,” he said at the press conference.
Also at the press conference, Prof. Rufa Guiam, who delivered the closing remarks for Titayan 1 in 2016 and the inspirational message on Tuesday for Titayan 2, said it is imperative that the elections will take place because it will establish the legitimacy of the BARMM “not just as a transitional government but a regular parliament of the Bangsamoro.”
Comparing the situation nine years apart — during Titayan 1 and Titayan 2 — Guiam said the big difference now is “vertical conflict has dissipated between the MILF and the Philippine government forces. Kung meron mang kaguluhan, communal, like brought about by rido or vengeance among families that are contesting for political power in the different provinces in the region.”
“We are relatively in a situation where there is already peace. However fragile it is,” she said, adding that there are ways to solve the impasse and that one of them would be “this dialogue that we want to push through, seeking an audience with the President himself led by our Cardinal.”
The BARMM is presently run by the MILF-led 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority. In March this year, Abdulraof Macacua, concurrent Chief of Staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), took over from Murad as interim Chief Minister. Murad was the BIAF chief and was Macacua also succeeded Murad as head of the BIAF. During the transition period, all MPs and the Chief Minister, are appointed by the President.
Wake up call
The MILF Central Committee issued a resolution on July 19, 2025 but released on July 26, suspending the fourth and final phase of the decommissioning process for MILF combatants and weapons, until there is “substantial compliance by the (Philippine government) in the other tracks of normalization, including the provision of socio-economic package as agreed upon by the GPH and MILF Peace Implementing Panels to the 26,145 (decommissioned) combatants.”
This was followed on August 16 by Murad’s issuance of MILF Memorandum Order No. 037prohibiting, effective immediately, its commanders and officials from participating “in any decommissioning or normalization activities” organized by the national government and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) “without prior written approval or authorization” from him.
A total of 40,000 MILF combatants and 7,200 MILF weapons are to be decommissioned as agreed upon by both parties. Of this number, 26,145 MILF combatants and 4,625 weapons have been decommissioned in Phases 1 to 3. The fourth phase would have involved 14,000 combatants and 2,575 weapons.
“I think the position of the MILF (on the decommissioning) is basically kind of a wake-up call. And the fact that they just declared a suspension and not a withdrawal means there is a need to listen to them. They might have that kind of legitimate grievances that the government must listen to. But on the other hand, because we are calling for a dialogue, we also listen to the other side. And that’s the only way we know to resolve the conflict peacefully,” Guiamel said.
In his speech on Tuesday, GPH Peace Implementing Panel chair Yano said the present challenges in the Bangsamoro peace process “are a wake-up call for all of us, that while we have gained strong momentum, we must never lose sight of the foundation that built the partnership between the government of the Philippines and the MILF over the past many years. Nurturing this relationship is key to securing the gains of peace.”
“Today’s gathering of independent minds provides us with a crucial space for reflection, not only for both parties but also for our partners who have walked this long and difficult journey with us. We have indeed come a long way, and we must remain steadfast in carrying this mission forward. On the part of the national government, we are steadily striving to deliver on the commitments we have promised, particularly the socioeconomic component of the agreement,” he said.
“Imposed regime change”
Iqbal focused on three key points that he said “will describe the current status” of the implementation of the CAB: that the MILF is “fully committed to put in place genuine peace in Mindanao,” that the current problem in the BARMM “lies in the questionable move to change the leadership of the BTA-BARMM by the national government” and the “momentary suspension of the fourth and final phase of the decommissioning process.”
“The current problem confronting the BARMM is caused by the imposed regime change in the BARMM by the National Government,” Iqbal said, adding that in March 2025, the national government, through the OPAPRU “orchestrated a regime change in the BARMM” by removing Murad as Chief Minister and appointing Macacua “without prior consultation and concurrence of the Central Committee of the MILF.”
He reiterated previous complaints that the President did not appoint all its 41 nominees to the BTA, that only 35 were appointed, that it violated the CAB which provides that the BTA shall be MILF-led, that “those who try to justify the action of Malacanang are claiming that the BTA is still MILF led because the new Chief Minister is still a high ranking official of the MILF.”
“That is beside the point,” he said.
Iqbal said the MILF “doubts whether the President is fully briefed and well informed about the gravity of the situation in the BARMM.”
On the decision to suspend decommissioning, Iqbal said implementation should be “parallel and commensurate,” that “we cannot just proceed with the final phase of decommissioning without making any significant progress on Amnesty, Camp Transformation, Socio-economic packages, Disbandment of private armed groups and the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation, to name a few.”
He said the MILF is “dead set to win or to lose this election. We are not only prepared to win but we are also prepared to lose.”
“The MILF is ready to submit itself to the will of the people in a democratic exercise. Let this election be a direct exercise of the collective right to self-determination of the Bangsamoro people,” he said.
“Crucial space for reflection”
Yano, who spoke before Iqbal, said Titayan 2 “provides us with a crucial space for reflection, not only for both parties but also for our partners who have walked this long and difficult journey with us. We have indeed come a long way, and we must remain steadfast in carrying this mission forward.”
On the part of the national government, he said they are “steadily striving to deliver on the commitments” promised, particularly the socioeconomic component of the agreement.
He noted that the two panels approved early this year the Integrated Socioeconomic Framework that “now serves as our general guide in identifying and implementing interventions suited to the real needs and preferences of our target beneficiaries.”
But even prior to its approval, Yano said combined efforts from various stakeholders had “brought interventions to our decommissioned combatants and their communities aimed at improving their lives.”
He acknowledged the “delays in fulfilling certain commitments” but they “strive to uphold the standards of transparency, accountability, and most importantly, jointness in every aspect of implementation.”
He said the outcomes of the Titayan 2’s discussions “will serve as an important guide for us, especially as we are in a crucial period leading to the first Bangsamoro Parliament elections.
He reaffirmed his panel “remains fully committed” to fulfilling the government’s obligations.
CSO participation in the joint mechanisms
Ariel Hernandez, GPH co-chair of the GPH-MILF Joint Normalization Committee
said the peace negotiations took 17 years and the implementation phase is six years. “I’m reminded of a very nice quote that says negotiations are difficult but implementation is complex. I think these issues coming out right now are part of the complexities.”
He said aside from calls to dialogue, the biggest contribution of the participants of the Friends of Peace and other peace stakeholders, is to participate in the joint mechanisms.
A week earlier, Hernandez told participants of the Forum on Normalization and Women Peace and Security also held in this city, to “please participate in the JNC kasi the complexities are so huge, you need to have a lot of partners to make sure that these complexities are given enough time and resources.”
He told the Titayan 2 participants that there are three points in the implementation: efficiency, clarity and accountability.
“Pag pumalpak ito, sinong accountable. I would say the call for partnership … the call for jointness, bilateral action and mutual partnership is key … Dahil complex ito, we need to talk more .. in the end, if we fail in this one, this is not a failure of government alone, it could be a failure also of the MILF,” Hernandez said.
Increasing connectors, decreasing dividers
In the open forum, Irene Santiago, a member of the GPH peace panel in the negotiations with the MILF from 2001 to 2004, and the first chair of the GPH Peace Implementing Panel (2016 to 2017), said peacebuilding is the process of increasing connectors and decreasing dividers so that equitable development can occur. “Now, we are clearly increasing dividers here and not increasing connectors,” she said.
Santiago asked if there is any effort on the part of the MILF “to have a dialogue with the President? Because his grasp seems to be very loose of what the peace agreement or the peace process is all about.. If you do not understand that the backdrop is the right to self-determination, then you don’t know anything. It is the right to self-determination that brought us here. And that is the basis for what Chairman Iqbal is saying, that there should be joint, bilateral, mutual decision-making.”
The President, she added, “doesn’t have a clue that that is what the basis of all of this is supposed to be. So, why not talk to him? Because the direction will never be where it’s supposed to go if he doesn’t understand. Instead of (OPAPRU) giving him directions, he has to give the directions to (OPAPRU). And that’s not going to happen if he doesn’t have a better grasp of what this process is all about.”
In response, Iqbal said “I don’t think it’s in my level to say whether to dialogue with the President or something to that effect.”
He said he would “force on my earlier line” that the panels meet in Kuala Lumpur in the presence of the Malaysian facilitator. Malaysia has facilitated the GPH-MILF peace negotiations since 2001 and will continue to serve as facilitator until the panels sign an exit agreement that all provisions of the CAB have been fully implemented.
Quevedo, who asked the first question during the open forum following the presentations of Yano and Iqbal said: “May I know who is advising the President regarding Bangsamoro affairs? Because as soon as I heard about the change, I inquired from friends in Malacanang who made the decision, recent decision was made by the President but who advised him to do so, to do such gross error in changing the chairmanship of the .. BARMM.”
Meetings of Peace Implementing Panels
Asked when the two peace implementing panels would meet to resolve the issues, given that the campaign period will start on August 28, Iqbal gave no direct answer. He spoke of the meetings of the peace negotiating panels in Kuala Lumpur from 2001 and that the peace implementing panels’ meetings are “basically dito na nangyayari sa Pilipinas at marami na kaming meetings dito sa (held here in the Philippines and we have had many meetings here in the) Pilipinas and the Malaysian facilitator sometimes is also present but he does not facilitate, nag o-observe lang siya (he just observes).
He recalled there was a meeting in KL during the Duterte administration but none under the Marcos administration.
The 2016 meeting in KL was dubbed the “The Launching of the Implementing Phase of the Mindanao Peace Agreements Between the GPH and the MILF” although it should have been appropriately referred to as the launching of the implementing phase “under the Duterte administration” as implementation of the 2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the 2014 CAB had actually begun after they were signed under the Aquino administration, but was not completed.
Iqbal said he “will still request” to return to Malaysia and talk about the International Monitoring Team and other issues.
He said it is his wish and prayers that the talks in KL would happen “even if for symbolism only because sometimes symbolism is very powerful.”
But while the joint mechanisms under the peace implementing panels such as the Joint Normalization Committee, are regularly meeting, the meetings of the peace implementing panels are few and far between. Under the Marcos administration, they met only once in 2023 in July in Davao City; twice in 2024 in Manila in February and December; and this year, once, in January, in Davao City.
Trust and Confidence
Ferrer, who signed the CAB for the Philippine government, told MindaNews that the country and especially Mindanao “will not benefit from a breakdown in the implementation process.”
She said both GPH and MILF leaderships “must squarely face the core issues that led to this grave loss of trust and confidence in each other. It’s not impossible to recover the lost ground if both parties examine their own failings, work jointly, and deliver their respective deliverables.”
A joint panel meeting, she said, “can help pave the way out of the current crisis,” and that whatever the outcome in the elections, “it’s still an imperative to complete the implementation of the agreement.”
“It’s harder to bend broken trust than to nurture its beginnings,” she said.
The next bridge
Quevedo said the next bridge is to “continue helping the two panels, the two partners, we call them partners in peace process, and to continue, that they really go through, into the exit agreement. That is the last phase of the peace process.”
Guiamel acknowledged a lull in civil society engagement in the BARMM. “There was a kind of feeling that things were already easy. And there was that democratic space and the (peace) agreement was signed and they say, ‘we will give you the time and the chance to prove.’ Unfortunately, some civil society organizations were already there supporting people in the government and there was a lull. And now we realize, in the post-election, the bridge will be to continue accompanying whoever will be there so that they will deliver what the people would demand from them. As in a social contract, we put them there, but in return, they will provide us what is due for us. We learned the lesson already.”
Guiam said: “I think we learned a lot of lessons from just sitting idly by while all these things … were unfolding. And so I think the next bridge will be about enabling constituencies to follow what I consider a good followership, meaning followers who hold accountable elected officials because they owe their positions to the votes of the constituents. They should be trained in holding elected people accountable for all their actions.”
But transparency alone will not lead to good governance “or even moral governance that they are espousing” because it should be accompanied by accountability and the readiness to acknowledge mistakes when they do … when they commit mistakes while they are holding positions of power” and to “make them look at the issues and concerns that govern ordinary people on the ground, which they have forgotten while they are enjoying their positions of power.”
She said it is also important to “teach our constituencies to hold accountable people who will continue to elect members of their families, members of their connections, or whatever (and) to get rid of the possibility that they will perpetuate another form of dynasty type of rule in the region. Because it’s already everywhere.. the fat and obese political dynasties are holding it over those who are really deserving to govern.”
Quevedo noted that from the civil society reports and workshop results, “many of the people in the Bangsamoro do not know what’s happening– the issues and the challenges involved. And it’s one of the plans of civil society from the proposals this afternoon is to popularize the challenges and to bring (them) down to the people so that the people will make this process their own.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
