DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 March) — The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) need to “re-commit to the principles” underpinning their shared journey to peace as implementation of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) remains incomplete, and the overall peace process is at a “very sensitive juncture as a result of the continuing delays and obstacles,” the Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) said in a statement issued Monday.
The CAB, the peace agreement signed in 2014 by the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after 17 years of negotiations, will mark its 12th anniversary on March 27.
Last year, the TPMT, the body mandated by both government (GPH) and the MILF to monitor, review and assess the implementation of the CAB, described the Bangsamoro peace process as having reached a “perilous juncture.”
“Trust among the Parties is at an all-time low since signature of the CAB. The leadership change in the BARMM and the subsequent suspension of the decommissioning process show the serious deterioration in bilateral engagement between the Parties,” the TPMT said in a statement dated August 28, 2025.
It noted then that rebuilding trust between the Parties is essential to keep the peace process on track and that commitment to shared objectives built over years must be “continually nurtured, not just in words but in a spirit of effective cooperation and partnership.”
It urged the parties to “engage in constructive dialogue” and “reinforce commitment to the genuine autonomy of the BARMM.”
In its March 23, 2026 statement, the TPMT stressed the need to re-commit to the principles which underpin this shared journey” to realize the full potentials of the CAB.
The CAB paved the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
It reminded both parties that “the path can only be traveled together,” and requires both Parties to commit equally to the responsibilities enshrined in the CAB.
“Parity of Esteem”
It also reminded the parties of the “parity of esteem” necessary for the shared journey.
During the 17-year peace negotiations, the MILF peace panel — in particular, Datu Michael Mastura — repeatedly pushed for “parity of esteem,” to which the government peace panel agreed.
According to the House of Commons Library, parity of esteem is a core principle in the 1998 Belfast Agreement or Good Friday Agreement which ended a three-decade conflict in Northern Ireland. Parity of esteem ensures equal recognition, dignity, and respect for the identities, traditions, and rights of conflicting parties, fostering trust essential for durable settlements.
“Neither party can truly succeed on this path to peace without walking together,” the TPMT said, adding this “walking together” requires a deep respect for each other, and a commitment to always invest in meaningful dialogue and joint implementation.
“Temporary pause”
The TPMT statement comes a week after MILF chair AL Haj Murad Ebrahim declared a “temporary pause” in their engagements in the Bangsamoro peace process until a “full-fledged chairman” of the government peace implementing panel is named.
Murad’s declaration, dated March 12 but made public on March 16, comes barely two weeks before the 12th anniversary of the CAB signing and one year after the change in leadership in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the transition government in the BARMM.
Murad served as interim Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim (his real name) from February 2019 to March 2025. He was succeeded by Abdulraof Macacua, who in 2003 succeeded Murad as Chief of Staff of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.
The statement noted that both government and the MILF have worked together to implement the CAB, an agreement praised as one of the longest standing peace agreements in the world.
That is why it is with much regret that the MILF Peace now stands alone in this
dance that was meant for two. The absence of an empowered and functioning GPH Peace Implementing Panel due to the recent resignation of its Chairman has left a gaping hole in the implementation of the peace agreement at this very crucial stage in the transition period,” it said.
Resigned
“The MILF deems it appropriate to declare a temporary pause in several aspects of engagement under the peace implementation mechanisms until a full-fledged Chairman of the GPH Peace Implementing Panel is appointed,” the statement read.
“The MILF Peace Implementing Panel cannot negotiate and engage with a headless counterpart,” Murad added.
Retired General Cesar Yano, who was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as chair of the GPH Peace Implementing Panel on August 10, 2023, resigned 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 on Monday that he tendered his resignation on February 12. In his letter to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., he said he was resigning “to give way to OPAPRU.”
“I am waiting for the approval,” he said. It’s been over a month since February 12.
MindaNews asked MILF’s 1st Vice Chair, Mohagher Iqbal, concurrent chair of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel and Education Minister at the BARMM, what specifically the MILF meant by “several aspects of engagement.”
He replied: “All aspects except the functions of the CCCH (Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities) and AHJAG (Ad Hoc Joint Action Group).”
Suspended decommissioning
In a statement on March 18, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity said “every ‘temporary pause’ translates into a day of uncertainty for the former combatants, their families, and the communities currently undergoing the transformation process.”
It urged the MILF to “continue walking this path with us, as the peace process is a living testament of our partnership.”
But even before Murad’s declaration, there had already been a “temporary pause” in the Bangsamoro peace process.
In July last year, the MILF suspended the decommissioning process until there is “substantial compliance” by the national government in the other tracks of normalization, such as the provision of socio-economic package to the 26,145 decommissioned combatants (DCs).
A month later, Murad issued a memorandum prohibiting 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 combatants and 7,200 weapons are to be decommissioned, and as of the third phase that ended on July 4, 2024, the decommissioned combatants number 26,145 (65.4%) and decommissioned weapons at 4,625 (64.2%).
Only 5% or 1,286 out of 26,145 decommissioned combatants of the MILF’s BIAF, are from the six MILF camps previously acknowledged by the national government, and 9,582 or 37% are from areas outside the BARMM, including one from Metro Manila and one from Cebu, a map on the geographic distribution of decommissioned combatants shows.
Restore credibility, Rebuild trust and confidence
Also on March 12, a broad coalition of leaders from civil society, political parties and business, sectoral organizations from the Bangsamoro, Mindanao and the national capital issued an urgent appeal to the Philippine government to address concerns affecting the implementation of the CAB, among them the immediate reconstitution of the government’s Peace Implementing Panel “to restore credibility, rebuild trust among stakeholders, and ensure effective stewardship of the process at a critical stage of the Bangsamoro transition.”
Among the concerns it raised, the statement pushed for the empowerment of the Government’s Peace Implementing Panel, and to ensure it has the “authority, mandate, and institutional backing necessary to effectively engage with its counterparts and oversee the implementation of commitments under the peace agreements with clarity, authority, and consistency.”
It also proposed a “regular high-level dialogue” between the national government and Bangsamoro leadership, “to prevent further erosion of trust and ensure that the transition remains on track.”
Among the signatories of the appeal were former Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Quintos-Deles and Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, the government peace panel chair who signed the CAB with MILF peace panel chair Iqbal.
1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections
The TPMT also stressed the importance of holding the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.
That first election should have been held in May 2022 but was postponed to May 2025, reset to October 13, 2025 and the two houses of Congress recently passed a bill setting the date of the long-delayed election to September 14, 2026, with the supposed three-year term extended and the next election set for May 2031.
“The CAB has opened the path to lasting peace for the Bangsamoro. We call upon the Parties to continue to manifest their full commitment to the spirit and letter of the CAB, including at the highest levels,” it said.
The BARMM has been in transition since February 2019. The transition period should have ended on June 30, 2022 with the assumption of the region’s first elected officials.
The transition period, however, was extended to June 30, 2025; November 30, 2025; and if the September 14, 2026 election pushes through, until October 30, 2026.
The supposed three-year transition period in the BARMM has run for seven years, with most of the appointed Members of Parliament serving seven years – one year more than the six-year term of the President of the Philippines and members of the Philippine Senate.
Under the peace agreement, the government and MILF peace panels and the Malaysian facilitator and TPMT “shall convene a meeting to review, assess or evaluate the implementation of all agreements and the progress of the transition.”
An ‘Exit Document” officially terminating the peace negotiations “may be crafted and signed by both parties if an only when all agreements shall have been fully implemented.”
The TPMT is chaired by Heino Marius of Brussels. Its members are Karen Tañada of the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute, Rahib Kudto of the United Youth for Peace and Development, Inc., Huseyin Oruc of Turkey and Sam Chittick of The Asia Foundation in Manila. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
