MILF vows to work with gov't to deliver peace deal 'in full'

COTABATO CITY — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has committed to work with the national government to fully deliver the promises of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). It said it wants more than the formal conclusion of the peace process.

"For its part, the MILF does not seek merely the formal conclusion of a peace process. We seek the successful realization of the aspirations for which this peace process was undertaken," the MILF said in a statement dated Nov. 4.

"We trust that both Parties will work hard, and work together, to deliver the promises of the CAB in full," it added.

The statement followed a meeting at Malacañang that day between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the MILF leadership, led by Chairman Ahod "Al Haj Murad" Ebrahim and Vice Chair Mohagher Iqbal, who also chairs the MILF Peace Implementing Panel.

The MILF said it welcomed the meeting "with renewed hope" and described it as "objective and forward-looking."

According to the statement, the President acknowledged that the gains of the peace process "could not have been achieved without the cooperation of the MILF."
The MILF said Marcos also conveyed his intent to "demonstrate decisive intervention" in speeding up the remaining CAB commitments. It said these were particularly the commitments on normalization, socioeconomic development, camp transformation, security arrangements, transitional justice, reconciliation and confidence-building measures.

"We received these words in the same spirit in which they were given: as a recognition that peace is built by partners who keep faith with each other," the MILF said.

In a Facebook post on Nov. 6, the Presidential Communications Office said the President and Ebrahim discussed the remaining CAB commitments and reaffirmed their shared commitment to advancing the peace process.
Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Mel Senen Sarmiento, who joined the meeting, said the President ordered the government to work closely with the MILF in implementing the CAB.

The meeting came five days after Ebrahim lost the race for chief minister to Abdulraof Macacua at the inaugural session of the regular Bangsamoro Parliament on Oct. 30.
The government and the MILF signed the CAB in 2014. It is the final peace agreement that led to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.