DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 March) – The Presidents of the three Jesuit-run Ateneo universities in Mindanao are urging Malacañang to “act with urgency and clarity” and appoint a new chair of the government’s Peace Implementing Panel, as the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) “cannot be left in a state of drift.”
“Peace in Mindanao is not a symbolic commitment. It is a living covenant. It must be tended deliberately, or it weakens,” the statement titled “Do not leave the Titayan unattended: Safeguarding the Bridge of Bangsamoro Peace,” said.
The statement said peace is not self-sustaining and likened it to a titayan (bridge) suspended over difficult waters. “It holds only when both sides remain anchored and actively maintained. When one anchor loosens, strain is felt across the entire structure.”
The Ateneo Presidents in Mindanao said that without a GPH (Philippine government) Peace Implementing Panel Chair to finalize key commitments under the peace agreement, “critical transition issues remain unresolved.”
The statement was signed by Fr. Karel San Juan, Fr. Mars Tan, and Fr. Guillery Anthony Andal, Presidents of the Ateneo de Davao University, Xavier University, and the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, respectively.
A copy of the statement was posted on the social media page of Fr. San Juan at 10:07 p.m. on Monday.
The university presidents noted that on the 12th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) on March 27, confidence between the parties is thinning and the “absence of a clearly empowered government counterpart in the peace mechanism creates a vacuum.”
“In peace processes, vacuums do not remain empty; they fill with doubt,” the statement added.
GPH Peace Implementing Panel chair Cesar Yano tendered his resignation on February 12. “I am waiting for the approval,” he told MindaNews on March 23.
Appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as panel chair on August 10, 2023, Yano resigned seven months ago — in August 2025 — but the Office of the President (OP) did not accept his resignation. Since then, he has continued to work as panel chair under the Office of the President, not under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU).
Yano was earlier reported to have resigned because he felt he was not empowered to exercise his mandate as chair under the OPAPRU.
Yano told MindaNews that in his letter to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on February 12, he said he was resigning “to give way to OPAPRU.”
Bangsamoro journey
The three Jesuit universities in Mindanao — located in the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga — have walked with the Bangsamoro peace journey “from the earliest framework conversations to the organic law and even in the upcoming first parliamentary elections” and have seen how trust is built slowly, carefully, and at great cost.
The Bangsamoro peace process, the university presidents said, is “at its most fragile juncture” as it is still uncertain if the 1st Parliamentary Elections will push through on September 14; the normalization aspects of the implementation of the CAB, including decommissioning of combatants and firearms, are still incomplete; and 14,000 await decommissioning while the 26,000 decommissioned combatants are still waiting for the promised socio-economic packages
It also pointed out that “repeated interventions from Manila, deepening fissures within the MILF, and the persistence of clan and political violence have eroded trust on both sides.”
Re-commit to the principles
On Monday, the Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT), the body mandated by both the GPH and the MILF to monitor, review and assess the implementation of the CAB, urged the two parties to “re-commit to the principles” underpinning their shared journey to peace as implementation of the 2014 CAB remains incomplete, and the overall peace process is at a “very sensitive juncture as a result of the continuing delays and obstacles.”
In August last year, the TPMT described the Bangsamoro peace process as having reached a “perilous juncture.”
For the Ateneo Presidents, the warning is clear, that without urgent, credible, and sustained action to restore dialogue and honor commitments, “the transition may not collapse in one dramatic break, but through the slow unraveling of confidence that peace depends on.”
The statement recalled a forum on the BARMM held on February 20 at the Ateneo de Davao University, where, Jesuit institutions “committed to serve as a neutral third safe space – an environment where difficult conversations may continue even when trust is fragile.”
“But a safe space is not a substitute for the table itself. Universities can host dialogue; we cannot carry the mandate of the State nor assume the responsibilities embedded in formal agreements. The architecture of peace must be upheld by those entrusted with it,” the Ateneo Presidents said.
The Commission on Elections, the statement said, can administer elections but “it cannot address the political gaps caused by this leadership vacuum – prolonging delays and undermining the Bangsamoro people’s democratic mandate.”
Extended transition
The Bangsamoro has been on an extended transition for seven years now, from its establishment in February 2019. Most of the appointed Members of Parliament, have served seven years or a year longer than the term of the President and Senators.
The transition period was intended for three years only or until June 30, 2022, when the first set of elected BARMM officials shall have assumed their posts.
But the May 2022 election was reset to May 2025, moved to October 13, 2025 and rescheduled to be held on September 14, 2026 by the two houses of Congress. Once signed into law, the first set of elected officials will take over from the appointed MPs on October 30, 2026 and the next election will be in May 2031.
The university presidents said the gains of the Bangsamoro transition were “not inevitable” but were “negotiated, sacrificed for, and carefully constructed.”
“To allow uncertainty to linger at this stage risks unsettling foundations that generations have labored to build,” the university presidents said. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
