Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo, archbishop emeritus of Cotabato, urged President Marcos to swiftly resolve points of tension before the historic first elections of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on October 13.
Quevedo opened the Titayan 2: Bridging to Sustain Peace in the Bangsamoro forum, organized by Friends of Peace and attended by 116 religious leaders and peace advocates. The group announced that they will request a meeting with President Marcos next month.
The first convention, Titayan 1, was held in 2016, following the Mamasapano tragedy and the ensuing backlash after the signing of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
“These days, as we come together for Titayan 2, the historical situation is profoundly different. The Bangsamoro peace process is at a crossroads,” said Quevedo, citing tensions over decommissioning, wealth sharing, and transitional justice.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Central Committee, chaired by Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, recently prohibited its commanders and officials from participating in the fourth and final phase of the decommissioning process for MILF combatants and weapons.
This came months after Murad resigned as BARMM’s Interim Chief Minister on March 17. He later said that he would focus on his campaign for the BARMM elections as a candidate of the group’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party.
At the Titayan 2 forum, Quevedo outlined the MILF-GRP peace negotiations’ prolonged history: the 1997 general cessation of hostilities; the storming of Camp Abubakar; the leadership shift to Murad Ebrahim in 2003; the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) in 2012; and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in 2014.
He emphasized the importance of the October elections, which will replace the presidentially appointed Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), whose mandate ends on October 30.
“The BARMM elections will establish a democratic parliamentary process rather than a transition authority. It is a democratic election process rather than an appointment process,” he told reporters.
The October 13 elections are BARMM’s first regular parliamentary polls since its creation in 2019. The elections will include five provinces, one city/district, three cities, 105 municipalities, and 2,185 barangays. A total of 2,295,351 registered voters will cast their ballots at 1,186 voting centers and 3,465 clustered precincts.
For his part, MILF Peace Implementing Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal reiterated the MILF’s commitment to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) but warned against what he described as a “regime change” imposed by the national government.
“At stake is not only the continuity of the peace process, but also the preservation of the institutional and political reforms we have established in the Bangsamoro homeland. Win or lose, the MILF is ready to subject itself to the will of the people in a democratic exercise,” Iqbal said.
He criticized the Malacañang Palace’s appointment of Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulrauf Macacua as Murad’s replacement, as well as the non-confirmation of several MILF nominees to the BTA without the MILF Central Committee’s proper consultation and concurrence.
“This move undermines the CAB and the provision in the Bangsamoro Organic Law that the transition authority should be MILF-led. The Bangsamoro people view this as a classic divide-and-conquer tactic,” Iqbal said.
In March, the House Committee on Public Accounts of the 19th Congress said that a fraud audit needs to be conducted to determine whether there was partiality in the release of the P6.4 billion Local Government Support Fund in the BARMM.
Although Malacañang said it backed the investigation, it was quick to say that the issue of alleged fund misuse in the BARMM and the House investigation are not linked to Murad’s resignation.
Iqbal explained that the MILF had suspended the final phase of decommissioning due to unfulfilled commitments regarding amnesty, camp transformation, socioeconomic packages, and transitional justice.
“We cannot proceed with the final phase of decommissioning without significant progress on these commitments,” he said.
Cardinal Quevedo described the impasse as “not insoluble” and stressed the need for urgent dialogue between the government and MILF implementation panels before the elections.
Rufa Cagoco-Guiam, convenor of Friends of Peace, said that they have been conducting voter education to encourage people to participate in the elections. She added that contingency plans are necessary in case spoilers trigger unwanted acts.(davaotoday.com)
