GPH, MILF sign peace pact

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Representatives of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have signed the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the implementation of the three-year-old final peace agreement.

The TOR, which they signed in a “special meeting” in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, is contained in a five-page document that spells out the parameters and other guidelines on how the two parties will work together in the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The special meeting on Tuesday was the second time that the two parties met in Kuala Lumpur under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. The first meeting was held in August 2016, where both parties agreed to pursue the implementation of the agreed peace deal.

President Duterte earlier vowed to honor all Bangsamoro peace agreements signed by previous administrations.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has created a Peace and Development Roadmap to address the political clamor of insurgent groups in the country.

Under the government peace roadmap for the Bangsamoro, all peace agreements such as the MILF’s CAB and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), as well as the key results of the 10-year-old GPH-Organization of Islamic Cooperation-MNLF Tripartite Review Process will be integrated into the new Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that will create a new Bangsamoro government unit.

The new Bangsamoro government unit will replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Among the agreed TOR are for the parties to work towards the passage of the BBL--the legal document of the CAB; and, to ensure the smooth implementation of the normalization process, which includes the decommissioning of MILF combatants.

The TOR reflects the new mandate of the two panels--from negotiations to implementation of the peace deal.

In their joint statement following the day-long “special meeting,” the two parties also welcomed the new Malaysian facilitator, Dato' Kamarudin bin Mustafa.PNA