Peace advocates gather in Davao to revitalize support for BARMM peace process

DAVAO, Philippines – Some 200 peace advocates gathered in Davao City on Tuesday, July 11, for the Southeast Asia launch of the Principles for Peace (P4P). The event aimed to revitalize support for the Bangsamoro peace process.

Gus Miclat, the executive director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), stressed the importance of identifying critical steps and strategies to ensure the full implementation of the peace process during the gathering at the Insular Waterfront Hotel.

The P4P emerged from an extensive two-year consultation involving 100,000 people across 61 countries. Participants reflected on the factors that contribute to lasting peace and those that lead to its breakdown.

Former Dutch Foreign Minister and P4P chair Bert Koenders said these principles serve as a guide for joint action, diagnostic tools, and better decision-making.

P4P aims to create a paradigm shift in the field by establishing an independent feedback loop for decision-making, aligning with the region’s peace-building practices.

The peacemaking covenant, which outlines four shifts to peacemaking and eight core principles of peace, emerged from two years of deliberations and extensive engagements with grassroots and high-level voices. It involved dialogue, practical experience, and data research.

The launch, jointly organized by the Geneva-based Principles for Peace Foundation, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, and local counterparts IID, International Center for Innovation, Transformation and Excellence in Governance Incorporated, and Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute, carried the theme “Reimagining and Re-energizing Support for the Bangsamoro Peace Process.”

Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Implementing Panel and member of the Bangsamoro parliament, said the Bangsamoro is currently in a critical and historical moment as the transition period ending in 2025 approaches. He pointed out that peace encompasses justice, equality, and dignity, and aims to build a better future for all.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was established as a significant phase of the MILF and government collaboration through the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law. 

BARMM has expanded its territory to include Cotabato City, 63 barangays in North Cotabato, and the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, which were previously part of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The agreement also encompasses transitional justice and reconciliation as integral aspects of the annex on normalization, along with the commitment to decommission the 40,000 MILF troops, transform six MILF camps into communities, and disband private armed groups.

Miclat said that in the remaining two years of the Bangsamoro transition and leading up to the 2025 elections, challenges such as horizontal conflicts among Moro clans and local politicians, as well as conflicts between Moro and non-Moro indigenous peoples within BARMM, need to be addressed. 

He expressed concern over reports about potential regression to corruption and nepotism in the region.

Special Assistant to the President Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo Jr. said peace-building should be a longstanding and inclusive process involving multiple stakeholders who make politically conscious decisions to achieve lasting peace, as demonstrated in the BARMM. – Rappler.com