Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao– The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine government met in Davao City on Saturday, July 1, and agreed on at least four key areas as they renewed their commitment to the implementation of the nine-year-old Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The weekend meeting in Davao City, the first under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., came as various officials in the BARMM called for a swift and impartial probe of the July 18 killing of seven MILF members in Barangay Madidis (not Damawato), Datu Paglas, Maguindanao Del Sur.

In a signed joint statement issued at the culmination of the meeting, both panels expressed their sympathies to the bereaved families of the MILF members who were killed during law enforcement operations in said barangay.

The first of four key areas that both panels agreed upon in the July 1 meeting was to “sincerely thank President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for swiftly directing the Department of Justice to conduct investigations on the aforementioned incident” a Rappler report said on July 3, 2023.

Earlier,Iqbal said that the seven who were killed were legitimate MILF members, belying the military’s allegation that they were members of the lawless Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

The MILF said in a statement that the operation was not properly coordinated with them resulting to the death of their seven (7)  members.

The MILF has asserted that the killing of its members must be resolved by the Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH).

The CCCH is composed of Armed Forces and MILF officials.

The July 1 joint statement, it stated that the MILF panel reiterated “the indispensability of a separate inquiry by an independent body to bolster confidence in the findings.”

Second, the two parties agreed to further study the proposals for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Redeployment Parameters and Areas for the Joint Security Assessment, Transition Plan for the Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPSTs), and the Integrated Framework on the implementation of camps transformation program for the initial 33 barangays of the six previously acknowledged MILF camps.

Under the CAB, the JPSTs will function as peacekeeping forces that will be deployed to ensure the security of residents within the six government-acknowledged MILF camps during the decommissioning process that began in 2019, the Rappler report said.

The JPSTs, with members of the MILF-BIAF (Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces), AFP, and Philippine National Police, were previously planned to have hundreds of teams or a total of 6,000 personnel.

These teams will carry out their duties until the Exit Agreement between the government of the Philippines and the MILF is signed, expectedly by the end of the transition period in 2025.

Third in the areas that both panels agreed on was the creation of a socioeconomic study committee that would look into the components, implementation framework, and funding strategies for the decommissioned combatants and transformation of MILF camps.

The committee members include Zamzamin Ampatuan (chair), Alan Tanjusay, and David Diciano from the Philippine government, and Raissa Jajurie (chair), Aida Silongan, and Mohajirin Ali from the MILF.

Fourth, despite challenges in the implementation of the peace process, the parties committed to pursuing the efficient delivery of the other components of the peace agreement.

The GPH (Government of the Philippines) Implementing Panel, it said, is “committed to convey and elevate both matters to its principal.”

For his part, presidential peace adviser Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. expressed his appreciation to both panels for their commitment to pursue the peace process in the Bangsamoro, the Rappler report also said.