Moving the peace mountains

The House of Representatives approved this week on second reading House Bill (HB) 11144, or the proposed postponement of next year’s first regular election for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliament. Originally scheduled to be held along with the national and local elections on May 9 next year, the House-approved measure resets it to May 2026.

A check with Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero showed its counterpart Senate bill, however, is still languishing at the Senate committee on local government chaired by Senator JV Ejercito. Since it is a local bill, the rules of the Senate require such proposed legislation must emanate from the Lower House.

As this developed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) came out last Wednesday with the campaign rules and regulations for the May 2025 midterm elections, along with the Bangsamoro Parliamentary polls. That is, if the election of the BARMM Parliament won’t be postponed by the 19th Congress with yet another law.

The proposed resetting of the BARMM Parliament election enjoys fairly wide support among the lawmakers. So more likely than not, both chambers of Congress will fasttrack its approval before the Comelec’s official campaign period starts in February next year. Congress adjourns for their Christmas recess next week. Sessions resume on Jan.13 next year.

If not postponed, this could have been the first ever elected BARMM Parliament committed by the Philippine government. In its separate peace agreements signed one after the other by administrations past, the creation of the BARMM Parliament was forged with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It was an add-on feature to the earlier peace pact inked with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

This came after the Supreme Court (SC) handed down its decision in September this year upholding the petition of Sulu provincial government to be carved out of the BARMM. It became final and executory last Nov. 26.

As the chief implementing government agency of the twin peace pacts, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and Unity (OPAPRU) headed by Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. fully supports the congressional initiative to postpone for now the BARMM Parliament election. As far as the leaderships of both the MNLF and the MILF are concerned, they, too, are in favor of delaying by one more year the BARMM Parliament election.

“Whether the BARMM Parliament election will be postponed or not, we are committed and ready to support the Comelec to ensure the holding of credible, peaceful and orderly elections at the Bangsamoro,” Galvez vowed.

The OPAPRU chief, however, remains confident that neither the SC ruling nor the proposed HB 11144 will, in any way, hurt the peace pacts with both the MILF and the MNLF.

Proof of enduring peace in Mindanao, Galvez cited, was the 10th anniversary this year of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) that gave birth to the BARMM. Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, Galvez recalled the entire country rejoiced at this event “marking ten years of greater peace, progress and stability” in the Bangsamoro region.

Then last September, Galvez reminded us of the celebration of National Peace Consciousness Month with the commemoration of the 29th anniversary of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement of the government with the MNLF.  The peace pact with the MNLF created the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the forerunner of the BARMM.

To date, the OPAPRU chief reported the government is preparing for the fourth and final phase of the decommissioning process for the remaining 14,000 MILF combatants. At the same time, Galvez noted as “key accomplishments” that the OPAPRU’s small arms and light weapons management program has so far collected 765 loose firearms in Basilan; 671 in Maguindanao; 512 in Tawi-Tawi and 39 stenciled firearms in Lanao del Norte.

“The effective implementation of these programs have enabled us to ensure the safety of our Bangsamoro brothers and sisters, as we gear up for the possible conduct of the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary election in 2025,” Galvez pointed out.

In the meantime, Galvez disclosed the present 80-man Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will need to work double time to pass a local legislation to apportion the seven congressional seats of Sulu among the five other provinces under the BARMM. The BTA, headed by Ahod Ibrahim, is composed of PBBM’s appointive officials and serves as the temporary parliamentary body for the BARMM.

The election for the BARMM Parliament members consists of 32 legislative congressional districts; 40 party-list representatives from the MNLF and the MILF and eight sectoral representatives.

Meanwhile, Sulu will still continue to get support and funding assistance from the national government, Galvez reassured the provincial government. The SC ruling effectively removed the island province from the annual P70-billion block grant to the BARMM. No worries though. Galvez cited the OPAPRU has allocated P120 million for Sulu alone in its next year’s budget.

“Sulu will not be left behind. Sulu will always be part of the Bangsamoro,” Galvez vowed.

On the other peace fronts, the OPAPRU noted the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) has already received 1,621 applications from former insurgents belonging to various rebel groups nationwide. As of Nov. 29 this year, the NAC has processed these applications to avail of the amnesty grant of PBBM, as concurred in by the 19th Congress. The bulk of this total, or 1,018, are rebel returnees from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) plus 19 from RPMB-RPA-ABB or the Alex Boncayao Brigade; 344 from the MILF and 240 from the MNLF.

Consistent with the return to the peaceful way of life of former insurgents, Galvez hailed the government’s peace policy reiteration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) at the launch last Monday of the 4th Philippine Human Rights Plan (PHRP4).

In a speech read by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Galvez mused on the President’s message: “Words may spark a flame but only actions have the power to move mountains.” Thankfully, Galvez knows how to move the peace mountains.