MAKATI CITY (MindaNews / 17 November) – President Ferdinand Marcos jr. skipped Monday afternoon an international peace conference here aimed at tackling post-conflict transitions, with a spotlight on the experience of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Marcos was to speak before the International Conference on After the Peace Agreements: Bangsamoro and Beyond at the Dusit Thani Hotel.
Organized by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), a Cotabato City-based think tank, the conference gathered scholars, policymakers, peacebuilding practitioners, civil society leaders and other international partners.
In the invitation sent to select media outfits, Marcos, had he attended, would have been the Guest of Honor and was scheduled to deliver a speech at the welcome reception scheduled at 5:30 p.m.
He was to be introduced by Secretary Antonio Lagdameo Jr., Special Assistant to the President, who also did not show up.
Marcos and his cousin former House Speaker Martin Romualdez were implicated by former Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co in the multi-billion peso flood control corruption scandal.
Benedicto Bacani, IAG executive director, told reporters that Marcos did not come due to the pressing issues facing his administration.
“Alam naman natin because of mga developments ngayon. Kaya naintindihan natin yan,” he said.
However, Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) was at the event.
The international peace conference seeks to engage the different sectors for a collaborative dialogue and synergistic learning on post-conflict transitions, with a special focus on the BARMM and other global case studies.
“The post-agreement phase in conflict-affected regions, particularly in the Global South, often presents significant challenges to achieving sustainable peace and effective self-governance. Despite the formal cessation of hostilities, issues such as delayed implementation, limited institutional capacity, and the marginalization of vulnerablegroups can hinder the transformative potential of peace agreements,” the conference briefer said.
“This conference will explore these challenges through a comparative lens, spotlighting the Bangsamoro peace process and drawing parallels with regions such as Aceh (Indonesia),
Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), Nepal, India, East Timor, and Cambodia,” it added.
In 2014, the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) after 17 years of peace negotiations.
The CAB provides for the creation of a Bangsamoro autonomous region, which was realized in 2019 with the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM, also called the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Organizers invited over 100 participants to the conference with plenary and breakout sessions starting on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to a conference briefer, Bangsamoro stakeholders can learn from the experiences of the different countries in the Global South with post-agreement phases.
On the other hand, the Bangsamoro peace process offers significant learnings applicable to those similarly situated or are still going through identity-based/right to self-determination conflicts and peace processes such as in Southern Thailand, West Papua in Indonesia, and the different ethnic states of Myanmar, it said.
The international peace conference is supported by Australian Aid in cooperation with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Unity and Reconciliation and the Southeast Asian Women Peace Mediators. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
