The past year had been a "difficult" year in terms of the implementation of the agreements between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to the Third-Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) in its latest report.
"It hardly needs to be said that this past year has been a difficult one," TPMT chair Alistair MacDonald said in his opening remarks during the launch of the third TPMT Public Report on Friday.
The TPMT is mandated under the law to report on the progress of the implementation of agreements signed between both the government and the MILF.
To recall, 2015 started with news of an incident between police commandos and the MILF in late January, considered to be a "misencounter" by many.
More than 60 people -- including 44 police commandos -- were killed on January 25 when the PNP Special Action Force (SAF) and the MILF clashed in a known MILF territory in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
"(T)he tragic events at Mamasapano cast a dark shadow over the peace process throughout the year, impacted negatively on public and political attitudes towards the process, and significantly delayed (and coloured) Congressional deliberations on the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law)," MacDonald said.
Senate President Franklin Drilon last month noted that the BBL, which embodies the peace agreement between both the government and the MILF, could well be the last casualty of the Mamasapano incident.
"Let's put the record straight. We were on the way to the approval of the BBL. The committee hearings were going smooth until the Mamasapano incident took place," he said in a television interview.
The Congress adjourned its session on February 5 to give way to the campaign period and will resume on May 23, after the national and local elections slated on May 9.
"In that climate, this Congress was not able to complete its work on the BBL, so the torch of peace will have to be taken up by the next administration and Congress, from July," MacDonald said.
He noted, however, that even if there had been more progress made in Congress, the substitute bills presented by the both the House and Senate committees were non-compliant with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
"This is an issue which will need to be taken up in the next Congress," he said.
Despite this, MacDonald said there has been "significant progress" in 2015.
"Discussions in Congress, even if not completed during this administration, allowed all stakeholders to have their say, ventilated all the issues, and can provide a solid foundation on which the next Congress can build," he said.
The MILF also began to turn over high-powered firearms to an independent body June last year.
"The first, ceremonial, stafe of decommissioning of MILF weapons and forces on June 16 underlined the MILF's determination to fully comply with its commitments under the CAB," MacDonald said.
The past year also saw the normalization of former combatants and their communities, ceasefire mechanisms, and the "significant upwelling" of domestic and international support for the peace process.
"In this difficult context, it was encouraging that both parties remained fully engaged with the process, and fully committed to building the sustained in peace foressen in the CAB," MacDonald said.
With the country's impending change in administration, the TPMT said it is essential to build a path forward or a "Plan B" so the next batch of leaders could hit the ground running.
"No administration can afford to ignore the costs of conflict in Mindanao -- not the human costs of conflict, the costs of decelopment delayed or foregone, the budgetary and security costs of conflict, not the risk of worsening a climate conductive to the spread of violent extremism," MacDonald said.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/556881/news/nation/2015-a-difficult-year-for-mindanao-peace-process-monitoring-team
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