Gov’t, MILF to sign final peace deal on March 27

MANILA, Philippines – It’s official. The final peace pact between the Philippine government and the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) – which aims to end 4 decades of conflict in Mindanao – is set to be signed on Thursday, March 27. 

“After 17 long years of arduous negotiations, we are finally arriving at a settlement that will seal enduring peace and progress in Mindanao,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Deles said Friday, March 14.  

The comprehensive agreement hopes to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with a new political entity to be known as the Bangsamoro. 

“The signing of the CAB (Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro) is expected to benefit not only the Bangsamoro but the entire country, and will radiate beyond our borders to the regional community, and perhaps the whole world,” Deles said.

The venue of the signing is yet to be announced. Dignitaries, including Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, are expected to grace the event. Malaysia served as the third-party facilitator to the peace talks. 

In January, the government and the MILF inked a firearms pact, the last of the 4 annexes to the initial Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in October 2012. 

Under the historic peace deal, the MILF agreed to decommission its arms in gradual, specific phases as the government also made a parallel commitment to reduce military troops in Mindanao. The MILF will not surrender their arms to the government but rather put them “beyond use.” What exactly will happen to MILF’s firearms and weapons will still be subject to the recommendations of the Independent Decommissioning Body. (READ: Normalization 101: Firearms, amnesties and rebel camps)

The proposed form of government in the envisioned Bangsamoro entity will be ministerial, with leaders elected by the people voting among themselves a chief minister – unlike the present structure of the ARMM, where the regional governor is also elected by the people. 

It will enjoy greater wealth-sharing arrangements with the central government and wider powers than the ARMM. 

Next phase of the peace agenda 

The signing of the final peace agreement also marks the beginning of the more arduous task ahead – the implementation phase. (WATCH: GPH-MILF peace deal: Groundwork begins)

The Transition Commission, led by MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, is expected to submit to Malacañang the draft version of the Basic Law that will serve as the legal basis for the Bangsamoro by the end of March. 

The draft bill will be certified as urgent by the president once it is submitted to Congress. 

Both the MILF and the government hope Congress would pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law by the end of 2014 to allow the Commission on Elections to conduct a plebiscite in core areas by the 1st quarter of 2015. 

Once the Basic Law is approved in the plebiscite, the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority – which will be led by the MILF – will take over until the election of new officials in the 2016 national elections. 

The implementation of the peace agreement will be monitored by the 5-member independent Third Party Monitoring Team. 

Once the commitments outlined in the final peace agreement has been fulfilled by both sides, only then will the MILF and the government sign an exit agreement formally terminating the peace process. – Rappler.com