MANILA: Authorities in the Philippines’ southern Muslim region welcomed on Monday a vow of commitment from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to implement signed peace agreements in the country, as one of Southeast Asia’s most conflict-torn regions moves closer to the conclusion of its decade-long peace process.
Bangsamoro, a region covering predominantly Muslim areas of Mindanao, has been undergoing a peace process that began in 2014, when the government struck a permanent ceasefire deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front after almost four decades of conflict.
MILF is an armed breakaway group of the Moro National Liberation Front — the oldest Muslim separatist movement in Mindanao — which continued to fight when its parent organization reached a peace agreement with Manila in the 1990s.
Bangsamoro residents voted for its greater autonomy in a 2019 referendum held as part of the peace process, the transition period of which will culminate after the region elects its legislature and executive in 2025.
In a ceremony held at the presidential palace on Monday, Marcos said his administration was committed to “(implementing) all signed peace agreements” for the security, inclusive progress and stability of Mindanao and the rest of the country, adding that ongoing peace processes were in the “advanced stages” of implementation.
Marcos’s pledge on Monday was welcomed by authorities in Bangsamoro.
“President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s commitment to implementing all signed peace agreements is a testament to his sincerity in bringing sustainable peace and development in Mindanao,” Mohd. Asnin Pendatun, spokesperson for the autonomous Muslim region BARMM, told Arab News.
“We are hopeful that we will witness the fitting conclusion to the peace accords … during his administration.”
Yet results from the peace process “remain to be seen,” according to Drieza Liningding, leader of the Moro Consensus Group from BARMM’s Marawi City.
“Most of what was promised has not yet been implemented,” he told Arab News.
Though he welcomed Marcos’ pledge to implement all the signed peace agreements, he said that Marawi residents felt “sidelined” by the current administration.
Years after pro-Daesh militants took over Marawi in 2017 in a five-month battle that resulted in its widespread destruction, many residents were still unable to access promised government support from the Marawi Siege Victim's Compensation Act, Liningding said.
“We in Marawi are frustrated with how his administration is handling the Marawi compensation law; we feel that our protest and letters addressed to him only fall on deaf ears,” he said.
“Injustice is the root of all revolutions … But we are still hoping that (Marcos) will listen to our pleas. We don’t want Marawi to be used by lawless elements or used as justification to rebel against the government. We want peace.”
