Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro

Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro

Areas in red constitute the proposed Bangsamoro political entity
Context	Part of a series of peace agreements between theGovernment of the Philippinesand theMoro Islamic Liberation Frontseeking resolution to theMoro conflict
Signed	March 27, 2014(2014-03-27)
Location	Malacañan Palace,Manila,Philippines
Signatories	Miriam Coronel-Ferrer Mohagher Iqbal Tunku Dato Abdul Ghafar Tunku Mohammad
Parties	Philippines Moro Islamic Liberation Front

TheComprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro(CAB) was the final peace agreement signed between theGovernment of the Philippinesand theMoro Islamic Liberation Fronton March 27, 2014 at theMalacañang PalaceinManila,which eventually led to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (often referred to simply as the Bangsamoro, in January 2019.

The agreement involved two tracks - the normalization track and the poltical track.Under the normalization track, the MILF would turn over their firearms to a third party, which would be selected by the rebels and the Philippine government. The MILF agreed to decommission its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).Under the Political track, the government would work towards the creation of a new politidal entity known as theBangsamoro,to take the place of theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao(ARMM) which had been created in 1989.

Power sharing was a central point to the autonomy redesign. The ARMM charter had only listed 14 areas which were outside the powers of the regional legislature. Under the comprehensive peace agreement, the parties listed 81 powers categorized into reserved for the central government, exclusive to the Bangsamoro, and concurrent with or shared by the two sides for power sharing. Of the 81 powers, 58 were devolved to the Bangsamoro, nine were reserved to the central government, and 14 were shared.TheFramework Agreement on the Bangsamoroand Four annexes, namely on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities, Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing, Power Sharing and Normalization, together with the Addendum on Bangsamoro Waters, will be included in the comprehensive agreement.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines raised red alert status on March 24 in preparation for the event. Philippine PresidentBenigno Aquino III,MILFchairHadji Murad Ibrahim,and Malaysian Prime MinisterNajib Razakwere among the key people expected to be present at the signing of the agreement.

Background

See also:Moro insurgency in the Philippines

In pursuit of their goal of liberatingBangsamoro,the MNLF engaged thegovernment forcesin extensive armed collisions,peaking in the early 70s when the rebels’ blitz-like operations brought them control of a substantial number of municipalities surroundingCotabato Cityand its airport complex. This prompted theMarcosregime to beef up military presence by deploying almost three-fourths of the armyin most Muslim parts ofMindanao.Things took a different turn in 1976 whenLibyanleaderMuammar Gaddafibrokered an agreementthat led to the signing of the Tripoli Agreementintroducing the concept of an autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao. On August 1, 1989, under the mandate of the new 1987 Constitution,Congressenacted Republic Act 6734authorizing the creation of theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao(ARMM). However, out of the 13 provinces and 9 cities that participated in the plebiscite,only the provinces ofLanao del Sur,Maguindanao,Sulu,andTawi-Tawiopted to become part of the ARMM. The ARMM was formally established on November 6, 1990.

Instead of bringing the Muslim leaders together, this agreement further fragmented the MNLF,because some factions within the group preferred independence over autonomy. Thus, a group of officers led byHashim Salamatbroke awayand formed theMoro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF) to continue their armed struggle for an independent Bangsamoro (Moro nation) in Mindanao.

Though the combined strength of these two rebel forces has not reached a point of posing any real threat to thegovernmentinManila,their existence—and the reasons for their resilience—certainly brings many headaches for the government. For nearly five decades, fivepresidentshave tried to completely end these two rebellions, utilizing bothforceanddiplomacy.So far, no combination has succeeded. Perhaps the most remarkable effort to bring closure to these movements was that of theRamosAdministration, which tried to reach out to both the communist and Muslim rebels through peaceful means. There were manyefforts to reach peace with Islamist separatists.

Framework Agreement

Main article:Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro

On October 15, 2012, the Philippine government signed a much-hyped document touted as theFramework Agreement on the Bangsamoro,which culminated the Aquino Administration's effort to end the deadlock in the peace process. This new document, while merely providing for a general framework for the actual peace negotiations, announced that "the status quo is unacceptable and that the Bangsamoro shall be established to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The Bangsamoro was the new autonomous political entity (NPE) referred to in the Decision Points of Principles as of April 2012." According to PresidentAquino,this was the agreement that could "finally seal genuine, lasting peace in Mindanao."withBangsamororeplacing ARMM which was described byPresidentBenigno Aquino IIIas "a failed experiment".

Reaching the agreement

The peace talks between the MILF and thePhilippine governmenthad been brokered byMalaysiasince 1997. After 2009, the negotiations were also supported by an International Contact Group (the ICG).The ICG represented an innovation in peace process support, in that it was a hybrid body composed of both states and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). The members wereTurkey,Saudi Arabia,theUnited Kingdom,andJapan,The Asia Foundation,theCentre for Humanitarian Dialogue,Muhammadiyah,andConciliation Resources.When the Asia Foundation became an official member of the Third Party Monitoring Team in 2012, the Community ofSan’Egidiofrom Italy replaced the Asia Foundation in the ICG.

On January 24, 2014, Philippine government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel Ferer and MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal signed a peace agreement inKuala Lumpur.The agreement would pave the way for the creation of the new Muslim autonomous entity called "Bangsamoro" under a law to be approved by the Philippine Congress.

The government aims to set up the region by 2016. The agreement calls for Muslim self-rule in parts of the southern Philippines in exchange for a deactivation of rebel forces by the MILF. MILF forces would turn over their firearms to a third party to be selected by the MILF and the Philippine government. A regional police force would be established, and the Philippine military would reduce the presence of troops and help disband private armies in the area. In the Agreement, the government committed to change a 37-year autonomy experiment whose current version, theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao(ARMM), has failed to live up to the Moro people's aspiration for freedom from a highly centralized government.