July 28, 2012 News – A top official of the General Staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (GS – BIAF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) conveyed an appeal to the government to restrain the movements as well as activities of the government security forces in areas sensitive to MILF during the holy month of Ramadhan.

The General Staff – BIAF, the highest governing body of the military organ of MILF, channeled the appeal to MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH).

“Kindly convey to our good partners with the government our appeal to restrain the movements of the Philippine Army troops in MILF communities during this Ramadhan,” said Von Al Haq, a member of GS and concurrent spokesperson of BIAF.

Al Haq, also a former Chairman of the MILF CCCH, said the implementation of the ceasefire by both the government and MILF has been very effective and commendable. “I believe that the faithful observance of ceasefire during this sacred month will be doubly bolsters its significant dent on building trust and confidence of the peace process.”

“The entire BIAF – MILF and I also believe that the AFP are fully committed to the ceasefire accord government,” he stated.

The ceasefire pillars of the peace process – the GPH and MILF CCCHs with the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) worked closely to promote and protect the truce.

For this year, not a single incident of encounter between government and MILF forces occurred, a condition that augurs well with the significant breakthroughs over the negotiating table.

The 29th round of Exploratory Talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last July 16-18, 2012 successfully ended with both sides expressing confidence in wrapping up discussions on mechanisms towards the realization of a new political entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as contained in the April 2012 GPH-MILF Decision Points on Principles.

The Parties continued discussions on power-sharing and other related matters, and agreed to meet again in August 2012.