The Philippine government has batted for the completion of
the Tripartite Review Process (TRP) it has been conducting with the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) under the auspices of the Organization of the
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for the past eight years of the 1996 Final Peace
Agreement to “do justice to the long struggle of the Bangsamoro.”
In her opening statement at the start of the two-day
Ministerial Meeting on the Tripartite Review Process among the OIC, the
Philippine government (GPH) and the MNLF from January 25-26 in Jeddah, Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita
Quintos Deles said “it is high time for the TRP – with the government and the
Bangsamoro fronts in full and active partnership – to conclude the review and
proceed to the implementation of the results of the review.”
The OIC, which brokered the 1996 Final Peace Agreement
between the Philippine government and the MNLF, has called for the conduct of a
high-level tripartite meeting to review the implementation of the peace deal
and make its assessment of the progress made as well as obstacles facing its
full implementation with a particular focus on Phase II in 2006.
At least four tripartite meetings and two ad-hoc high level
group meetings were conducted since the review process started in 2006.
Since then, the process has resulted to several agreements,
including the 42 consensus points, which were intended to be amendatory
provisions for the Republic Act 9054, before they were integrated into the
proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
The 5th tripartite review process was initially scheduled on
September 16, 2013, but was suspended by the OIC following the three-week
Zamboanga Siege, when rogue members of the MNLF attacked the southern port city.
The ongoing meeting is set to tackle the two remaining
issues related to the co-management of minerals and natural resources and the
full convergence of the FPA with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro
(CAB) under the broad framework of the BBL.
The MILF signed the CAB with the Philippine government in
March 27, 2014 after 17 years of negotiations to the wide acclaim of the
international communities, who have been extending financial and other
assistance to Mindanao peace programs.
In 2014, the OIC set up the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum
(BCF) to unify the two fronts for the specific integration of the FPA with the
BBL. MNLF factions are represented in the BCF through a so-called Jeddah
formula.
“A review is time-bound. A never-ending review means that
agreements will never be implemented. It will mean endlessly looking backwards
instead of moving forward,” Deles said in her opening statement.
“I am confident that the parties – the OIC, the Government,
and the MNLF – are ready to take all necessary action: to surmount narrow,
rigid interests and enter a new era of collaboration for lasting peace and
progress,” she added.
Furthermore, through the MNLF-MILF convergence of the FPA
and the CAB through the BBL, the MNLF would be given equitable representation
in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) as well as encourage them to field
candidates for the elections in the Bangsamoro region.
A Tripartite Implementation Monitoring Committee (TIMC) will
also be formed to supervise the implementation of all TRP agreements and
initiatives.
Deles thanked OIC Secretary-General Iyad bin Amin Madani for
personally taking steps to push the TRP and the two fronts’ unification by
making an unprecedented trip to the Philippines
During his visit, Madani met with the MNLF and MILF leaders
in Davao City
In her opening statement, Deles also underscored the
strategic implications of the completion of the TRP to the wider of national
and regional security.
“The OIC is bending over and exerting extraordinary efforts
to make this Tripartite Review Process a way forward, another workable
political paradigm for the world’s Ummah in the search for communal harmony and
balance, an ideal to which we all also firmly aspire and commit to relentlessly
pursue. With the completion of the Tripartite Review Process, Mindanao stands
on the threshold to open a new order of peace in a time when the entire global
system faces huge, hard challenges, especially in Asia and the Middle East ,” Deles said.
This was echoed by Madani, who said in his own statement
that the OIC “is very concerned” with the status of the Bangsamoro peace
process, and is doing its best to help “bridge” the gaps to achieve lasting
peace in Mindanao, and encouraged the international community, especially the
ones in the Asian region, to continue doing what they can in helping the
process.
Deles said the review process is very much ready to proceed
to the implementation phase.
“Stepping up the level of convergence of the Bangsamoro
fronts with the implementation of 42 consensus points of the Tripartite Review
Process and the operationalization of the Bangsamoro Development Assistance
Fund and the Tripartite Implementation Monitoring Committee will draw forth
more enduring, longer-term international support for the cause of Bangsamoro
self-determination. We must view our present and immediate actions through the
lens of such essentially long view. This convergence will vindicate and
validate all the truths and wisdom in the 1996 Final Peace Agreement as
complemented and improved by the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro,
and also therefore do justice to the long struggle of the Bangsamoro,” she
said.
“In sum and at this instance, then, we look forward to reach
a conclusion of the review process with our esteemed counterparts in the MNLF,
under the wise guidance and firm auspices of the OIC,” Deles added.
The Philippine delegation is composed of National Commission
on Muslim Filipinos Secretary Yasmin Busran-Lao, Department of Foreign Affairs
Undersecretary Rafael Seguis,Undersecretary Nabil Tan of the Office of the
Executive Secretary, Undersecretary Zabedin Azis of the Department of Justice,
Undersecretary Jose Lorena of the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace
Process, Deputy-Director General Zenonida Brosas of the National Security
Council, Brig. Gen. Buenaventura Pascual of the Peace Process Office of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines, Atty. Anna Tarhata Basman, the Head of the
Legal Team of the GPH Peace Negotiating Panel for talks with the MILF, and Regional
Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv
Hataman and Deputy Regional Governor Yusop Jukiri.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=850478
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