The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) finally got a mention in a key speech of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. In his second State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 24, he boasted of the progress of the new regional parliamentary government.
Marcos omitted the BARMM in his inaugural address and in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year, prompting concerns about his support for the completion of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), especially because the former rebel group had supported another presidential candidate.
In the year between the first and second SONAs, Marcos allayed these concerns. He appointed new members of the Bangsamoro Transition Council — the interim government body — and respected the ascendancy of the MILF as majority members of the parliament. (Some local politicians insisted on a different interpretation of the organic law that created the new autonomous government.)
“We are proud of the progress that the BARMM has taken. It will be self-governing, it will be progressive, and it will be effective,” Marcos said during his SONA on Monday, July 24.
“Former adversaries are now partners in peace. Its functions have been defined, and its basic laws are now being written,” he said.
Not smooth sailing
Stakeholders and analysts said Marcos’ SONA indicated his commitment to the peace process. Marcos also showed a better understanding of the peace process than his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, according to former presidential peace adviser Teresita “Ging” Deles.
But the rosy picture he painted in his SONA betrayed realities on the ground, they said.
BARMM’s progress was not as smooth sailing as Marcos had claimed, they said, raising concerns that his government does not fully understand what needs to be done to protect the gains of the peace process.
“For those working for peace, and most importantly for victims and survivors of the armed conflict in Mindanao, President Marcos, Jr.'s pronouncements during his second SONA on the Bangsamoro peace process is of course, welcome,” said Gus Miclat of the Initiative for International Dialogue (IID).
“There is however much to be desired in ensuring that the beautiful words read by the President are actually implemented in action and deed. Paramount is to make certain that the partnership between the national government and the Bangsamoro government or the MILF as enshrined in the peace agreement, is practiced, strengthened and sustained at all levels,” Miclat said.
Deles shared Miclat’s concerns. She noted that Marcos did not mention the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the 2014 peace document that outlines the commitments of the government and the MILF.
“It is the foundation of BARMM and it is unfinished. Is that part of the plan? Ang sinasabi niya, everybody (BARMM stakeholders) agrees, which we know on the ground is not the case. Because everybody does not agree,” said Deles, who served during the Aquino administration when the CAB was signed.
“Everybody is going along at this time. But things will get more contentious moving to 2025. Is there enough understanding of that?” she said, referring to the schedule of the first elections in BARMM.
In two years, BARMM voters will decide whether or not to keep MILF at the helm of the autonomous region.
The BARMM was established in March 2019, five years after the government and the MILF signed the CAB. The political settlement saw the former rebels give up their bid for independence and agree to decommission 40,000 combatants and transition them to civilian lives, a process that is still underway.
The peace deal ended a decades-long conflict that claimed at least 100,000 lives, based on estimates.
In exchange, BARMM was created to obtain wider access to funds and resources. Unlike its precursor ARMM, which had to request and defend its budget from Congress annually, BARMM now gets an automatic allocation. It also has a bigger share of the national resources located within its jurisdiction.
Key MILF leaders were appointed to lead BARMM during its transition period, empowered to craft the codes that would govern its proceedings.
The transition period is expected to end in 2025, when the BARMM is scheduled to hold its first-ever elections following a three-year postponement approved by Congress amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The government and the MILF should have completed by then all their commitments in the CAB.
MILF members may run for seats in the parliament, competing with members of political clans that used to rule the region. BARMM’s chief minister will have to win majority support from the members.
BARMM is a resource-rich region. The relative peace since the peace deal was signed ushered in new investments. In his second SONA, Marcos cited the partnership between the national government and BARMM in drawing foreign capital into energy exploration in the region.
Earlier in July, Marcos witnessed the signing of the Intergovernmental Energy Board Circular (EIB) on the Joint Award of Petroleum Service Contracts and Coal Operating Contracts in the region.
The EIB operationalizes provisions in the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in which the national government and BARMM will jointly grant rights, privileges, and concessions for the exploration, development, and utilization of uranium and fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal within the region.
Cooperation among key groups?
There are a number of issues confronting BARMM that need to be addressed urgently, said Benedicto Bacani of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance.
“The peace process is encountering difficult challenges — delayed decommissioning and normalization, rising local armed conflicts, proliferation of violent extremist ideology, unstable legal frameworks and weak institutions, among others,” he said.
Marcos’ SONA could go two ways, he said. “The positive yet general assessment in the SONA of the state of the peace process may turn out either as a smokescreen to put under the rug the hard issues, or it can inspire and harness commitment and innovation to meet these issues head-on,” Bacani said.
Marcos spoke of consultation and cooperation between and among “key groups” in the region, identifying the local governments, the royal families, the MILF, and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which had felt left out in the BARMM. The MNLF, which had fought for Bangsamoro independence, signed a peace deal with the government in 1996 and took the helm of the ARMM. The ARMM was abolished to pave the way for the BARMM.
Marcos’ omission of the Lumad groups in his speech, however, reflected the perceived disenfranchisement of indigenous groups that have lived alongside Muslims in the region.
“It’s good that he mentioned all of them (key groups). May kulang doon but at least may recognition na maraming elements that have to be brought in,” said Deles.
“But those elements have real interests,” she said.
Normalization, amnesty
The decommissioning of 40,000 MILF combatants has yet to be completed. As of July 2022, the government said 22,844 troops had been decommissioned.
The process continued to face delays due to various roadblocks such as funding gaps to fulfill development commitments to MILF communities, confusion over the coverage of benefits to be received by the combatants, and disagreements over the number of firearms the MILF is expected to decommission.
“It’s the normalization… that may have more issues,” Deles said.
Duterte had issued a proclamation granting amnesty to MILF rebels, but not all the combatants were able to apply before the deadline lapsed in January this year.
During his SONA, Marcos said he would also grant amnesty to “rebel returnees.”
“We have incorporated capacity-building and social protection into our reintegration programs to guarantee full decommissioning of former combatants. Through community development and livelihood programs, the Barangay Development and Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Programs have been effective in addressing the root cause of conflict in the countryside,” Marcos said
“To complete this reintegration process, I will issue a proclamation granting amnesty to rebel returnees, and I ask Congress to support me in this endeavor,” the President vowed.
Marcos did not provide details, but he is expected to also extend the application process for the MILF rebels.
Miclat said some former MILF commanders sitting as members of parliament were still being asked to report to the military to get and renew safe conduct passes. “The dignity of these fighters need to be recognized,” he said.
The decommissioning process was also supposed to include other armed groups — Abu Sayyaf Group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and private armed groups — in order to rid the region of loose firearms.
“The stalled decommissioning of the MILF mujahedeens can proceed in earnest only if the national government in partnership with the former are able to dismantle heavily armed private groups linked to traditional political clans and leaders – a provision that is also part of the agreement,” Miclat said.
International showcase
Marcos has made the peace process in the BARMM as the country’s showcase to the international community, even mentioning it as part of the country’s bid to be a part again of the United Nations Security Council.
He said in a speech before the UN General Assembly in September 2022: “My country’s experiences in building peace and forging new paths of cooperation can enrich the work of the Security Council.”
“To this end, I appeal for the valuable support of all UN Member States for the Philippines’ candidature to the Security Council for the term 2027-2028,” he said.
The Security Council has 15 member countries, including China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States as permanent members. The last time the Philippines was a member of the council was in 2005.
But BARMM’s success remains to be seen. It’s important to make sure that the peace deal is completed, said Deles.
“He (Marcos) understands the transition. But the transition has to be well laid… Governance has to be put into place. The dividends have to be brought down,” Deles said.
“This transition is so important to be well done so that it will proceed… We hope that his people have that understanding of all its technical, political, social processes that have to be managed and assisted in a very real way to be able to bring it further,” Deles said.
Miclat said the Bangsamoro peace process is also instructive on how to resolve other local conflicts – through “persistent dialogue, hard negotiations, and a goal for political settlement.”
Miclat supports the resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front to end the decades-long conflict with communist rebels.
“The root causes of the armed conflict need to be recognized and addressed comprehensively and sustainably. A hard militarist, all-out war or even a counter-insurgency approach are not the answers to the conflict. These will all fail. This was proven in the Bangsamoro. It behooves the government to take a leaf from this experience,” Miclat said. END
TOP PHOTO courtesy of the Presidential Communications Office