KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 5 May) — The independent Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) on Tuesday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to directly engage regularly with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to ensure that all objectives of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) are substantially achieved, eventually leading to the signing of the exit agreement between the parties.
In coming up with the suggestion, the foreign-led TPMT, which the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF mandated to monitor, review and assess the implementation of the CAB, pointed out that Marcos “is in charge of providing overall policy direction in the conduct of the nation’s comprehensive peace process.”
“We suggest regular high-level engagement between the President and the MILF leadership,” the group said in a statement released Tuesday during the launching in Makati City of its 119-page Ninth Public Report, covering the period November 2023 to April 2026.
“In order to reinforce and strengthen the role of the panels, we recommend that the GPH Panel should report directly to the Office of the President, thereby confiding in the authority and the institutional backing of the President,” it added.
A page prior to the TPMT Ninth Public Report’s Executive Summary highlighted this quote of Marcos: “A peace agreement is only as good as the people and the parties who will implement it. Because brave may be those who wage wars, but braver are those who seek peace and who win that peace.”
Formed in 2013, the TPMT recently concluded its 57th monitoring visit for the Bangsamoro peace process, which is largely characterized by the political and normalization tracks.
The political track includes the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which has been in a transition period that will end on October 30 when the first set of elected parliamentary officials shall have taken their oaths of office. The first Bangsamoro Parliamentary election is scheduled on September 14, after four postponements.
For the normalization aspect, it includes the decommissioning of MILF fighters, which the front suspended in July 2025 and involving 14,000 combatants and 2,450 weapons for the last of four phases. A total of 26,145 MILF combatants had been decommissioned for the first three phases.
The other elements of normalization, including recruitment into the police, redeployment of the AFP, disbanding of private armed groups, and transitional justice and reconciliation are still, according to the TPMT, at initial or planning stages.
“Unfortunately, (the) implementation of the normalization track has fallen behind the political track (which is nearing completion),” the TPMT, headed by former European Union diplomat Heino Marius, said in a statement.
The GPH and the MILF signed the CAB – which incorporates notably the 1997 Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities and the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and its annexes agreed in 2012 – in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations.
“Today, some 12 years after (the signing) of the CAB, we look at a mixed picture. There is reason for hope, but there is also lingering uncertainty,” the TPMT said.
It urged the GPH and the MILF to conclude an exit agreement before the term of the Marcos administration comes to an end.
“We believe this is still possible. For this to happen, the Parties will need to engage in focused dialogue and strategic review to define a clear roadmap for completing the normalization track, including a timeline and funding commitments for the coming years,” the TPMT said.
Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) assured the agency will address the concerns raised by the TPMT, particularly involving the CAB’S normalization aspect.
“The OPAPRU is committed to fully realize the provisions of the landmark peace agreement as directed by no less than President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr,” he said in a statement.
Sarmiento vowed the government will work on the rollout of interventions jointly identified for the decommissioned combatants, such as social protection, capacity development, livelihood assistance, and other community-based initiatives in their communities with the end in view of improving the lives of the Bangsamoro people.
Moving forward, he said the OPAPRU “is determined, more than ever, to working closely with its peace stakeholders to sustain the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process, strengthen trust and cooperation among parties, and ensure that the aspirations enshrined in the CAB translate into lasting peace, inclusive development, and meaningful change for the Bangsamoro people.” (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
