1996 MNLF Peace Accord Review In Harmony With MILF Peace Track

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reiterated its support for the Philippine government’s peace track with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), saying that the passage of a meaningful Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is in harmony with the ongoing Tripartite Review of the 1996 Final Peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

“[T]he OIC has maintained ongoing interest and engagement in this process since its inception. OIC member states have, in their annual Council of Foreign Ministers Meetings, welcomed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and viewed it as a first step toward the fulfillment of the 1976 Tripoli and the 1996 Jakarta Agreements,” OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani said in separate letters to Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

“Allow me to reaffirm our support to the efforts of the Philippine nation in the cause of peace and we remain committed to seeing a just and lasting solution that will benefit all the people of the Philippines,” Madani added.

The OIC secretary general was in the country early last year to help oversee the activation of the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum, a venue wherein the MILF and the MNLF can harmonize their position with regard to achieving genuine autonomy as envisioned in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Meanwhile, a Ministerial Meeting on the Tripartite Review Process has been scheduled on January 25-26 in the city. It will be attended by top officials from the Philippines and representatives of the Misuari and Sema-led groups of the MNLF. ‎

It is expected that the Tripartite Review process, when finished, will provide for a harmonized Bangsamoro peace process roadmap. This will become more evident if the MNLF decides to participate in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government which will bridge the transition from the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the proposed Bangsamoro parliamentary government.

Focusing on the legislative process of the BBL, Madani expressed grave concerns about the delay and the perceived watering-down of the bill. “[The OIC] urges the Philippine authorities, in particular the lawmakers, who share the common goal at working for peace and stability not to let this historical moment become another lost opportunity. The OIC leader added that the BBL that will be passed must “ensure the ‘concept of exclusivity of the powers of the Bangsamoro political entity’ as agreed upon in the CAB.”

Madani also commented on the reported amendments to the pending Bangsamoro law, saying “[t]hese amendments restore the National Government control over many areas and they actually reduce the Bangsamoro Government to an entity similar to an ordinary local government unit.”

The original draft of the BBL, which was drafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and submitted to Congress in September 2014, envisions a regional government that has complete fiscal and political autonomy while remaining part of the Republic of the Philippines. It attempts to correct many structural flaws of the current ARMM which curtail its function as an autonomous regional government.

The House of Representatives has set the voting on the passage of the BBL on 27 January, Wednesday, meaning it only has Monday and Tuesday to finish the turno en contra speeches and the period of amendments. The Senate, meanwhile, has yet to discuss the BBL since it returned to work from the holiday and New Year break. The upper chamber has also scheduled a re-opening of the Mamasapano probe on Wednesday.

“The [OIC] will continue its efforts for peace in Mindanao and will continue monitoring the situation closely until our efforts lead us to the real dawn of peace and stability and a final end to the long struggle of the Bangsamoro people,” Madani concluded. (PPMB)