MANILA, Philippines — After Monday’s parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), a key achievement for the peace process, civil society advocates are now calling attention to the need to complete the normalization effort for former Moro combatants and their war-torn communities before the country is caught in the frenzy of the 2028 elections.
In the wee hours of Wednesday, the regional board of canvassers led by Bangsamoro Election Director Ray Sumalipao confirmed the selection of two representatives who will take the parliament seats reserved for non-Moro indigenous peoples.
After that came the most awaited proclamation of the victory of four regional parliamentary political parties and the corresponding nominees who will take 40 of 80 seats in the first elected regional legislature.
As the last party nominee was proclaimed, the historic political exercise came to a close, completing the political track laid out in the landmark Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) that aims to usher former rebel forces from armed struggle to democratic self-governance.
Signed in 2014 between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the CAB puts an end to over four decades of secessionist rebellion in Mindanao.
READ: Parties led by ex-rebels dominate BARMM polls
The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the major instrument to implement the CAB, sought to bring in the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the original secessionist movement, into the BARMM’s embrace. This was achieved with key MNLF factions joining the interim regional government, and eventually building political parties that vied for seats in Monday’s elections.
Big step, new blood
Political scientist Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, a former government chief negotiator with the MILF, emphasized that the parliamentary system in the BARMM managed to draw the participation of the MNLF, which also signed a peace pact with the government in 1996.
“It’s the first time the MNLF formed a political party (and joined the parliamentary elections). They never did that before,” she said during a roundtable discussion with Inquirer editors and reporters on Tuesday, the day after the BARMM elections.
The MNLF factions of Nur Misuari and Muslimin Sema joined the parliamentary race through the Mahardika Party and Bangsamoro Party, respectively. “That’s a big step—that we have former armed groups that are really serious about party building now, precisely because of the parliamentary system,” Coronel-Ferrer said.
Former Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Quintos Deles noted that the parliamentary system also managed to somehow made a dent on the entrenched dominance of political dynasties in the region.
This was shown in the impressive showing of the MILF’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) in the region-wide vote, capturing all six sectoral seats and taking 15 of 40 seats for party representation.
The UBJP also captured nine parliamentary district seats, with big wins in three of nine constituencies in Lanao del Sur province where its candidates faced the political might of dynastic clans.
“We see (the entry of) new blood and we are very hopeful. Because of the party system, you have a lot of new people and young people who got their names listed,” Deles said. “They entered politics carrying parties with platforms and positions on issues. It was certainly refreshing for us considering what we’re seeing,” she added.
These achievements outweighed the grim incidents that attended the poll conduct, especially the death of four people in election-related violence, and allegations of vote-buying and ballot padding, said Kiko Aquino Dee, who joins Deles and Coronel-Ferrer as co-convenors of the multisectoral coalition Duyog Bangsamoro.
Presidential Peace Adviser Mel Senen Sarmiento said it was saddening that violence still attended to the historic exercise, although it was a consolation the level and degree were nothing compared to previous ones.
On Wednesday, Commission on Elections Chair George Erwin Garcia said that on Election Day “the sound of restraint was louder than the rumblings of trouble” which contributed to the 84.43-percent voter turnout—unprecedented in the region’s history.
Still a lot ahead
As the incoming members of parliament organize themselves into the regional government by Oct. 30, Deles cautions against resting on these recent laurels.
She said having the parliamentary elections was not the conclusion of the CAB implementation since the accord also encompasses the normalization track.
This includes the decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) combat forces and their weapons, the transformation of MILF camps, the redeployment of government troops, the disbandment of private armies, and the pursuit of transitional justice and reconciliation, among others.
In July last year, the MILF suspended the final phase of the decommissioning process, involving close to 14,000 combatants and 2,450 weapons, until the government could substantially comply with the socioeconomic package for deactivated fighters as agreed by the parties. This was after President Marcos appointed Abdulraof Macacua as interim chief minister in March that year, replacing MILF chief Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim.
So far, a total of 26,145 MILF combatants had been decommissioned, or 65 percent of the 40,000-strong Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces. Deles noted that the initiatives under the socioeconomic aspect was way behind the political track.
Also falling behind in pace is the establishment of a transitional justice and reconciliation (TJR) process that seeks to right historical wrongs against the Bangsamoro people and embark on efforts at social healing to address individual and collective trauma due to the decadeslong conflict.
Deles notes that while a TJR program is being shaped in the BARMM, there needs to be a national one, and such effort has yet to start through legislation.
This is why there is a need to keep national interest on and set an “irreversible momentum” for the Bangsamoro peace process.
While Coronel-Ferrer notes about the durability of the CAB compared to other peace pacts forged in other parts of the world in recent times, Deles is worried this might get caught up again by the shaping dynamics of the political transition in 2028 when the country goes into a presidential election.
Deles recalled that at the start of the Duterte presidency, it still took time to muster the BOL even as his party had dominant numbers in Congress.
Prior to Monday’s elections, Duyog Bangsamoro facilitated the signing of a covenant of commitment toward peaceful elections as well as unstinting support to the full implementation of the CAB, especially the normalization track, that should lead to the eventual conclusion of an exit agreement between the government and the MILF.
Huge potentials
The MILF, according to Deles, also recognized the need to complete the decommissioning of its former combatant forces, whatever happens in the vote.
“The potential of economic development in the area is so huge. A peaceful BARMM is good not just for BARMM business, it’s good for the national business sector,” Deles said.
Coronel-Ferrer echoed Deles’ sentiments, citing the importance of sustaining the gains ushered in by the Bangsamoro peace process, including the conduct of the first parliamentary elections in the region. “The development potentials (of the BARMM) are really big. So sayang kung mawaldas ’yung momentum,” she said.
Since the signing of the CAB 12 years ago, the Bangsamoro region has been relatively peaceful, gradually attracting investments, including from foreigners. Last year, the region registered P5.1 billion in investments, beating its annual target of P3 billion. /cb
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