COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Ministry of Public Order and Safety (MPOS) convened around a hundred participants from diverse sectors, such as, civil society organizations, youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, settler communities, security, academe and other sectors of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region during its Bangsamoro Peace Forum on Friday March 26.
The Bangsamoro Peace Forum is in celebration of the 7th Year Anniversary of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and is in observance of the Bangsamoro History Month declared by the Chief Minister through Proclamation No. 0001, s. 2021. The CAB was the consolidation of all the agreements between the GPH and the MILF and it was signed on March 27, 2014.
“As an MILF, who had been in the peace negotiation with the Government of the Philippines, March is a month of reminiscing the promise and the reason I joined the rebellion. I was vengeful [of] this month, [but] I am forgiving as well. This is the month of conflict, and the month of reconciliation”, Minister Hussein P. Muñoz said during his opening message.
“By now most of you are probably aware that the government of the day supports the call for extension and that is because at the very heart of the comprehensive agreement we have barely scratch the surface. May this forum enlightened us on where we truly are in the transition period and why the need to comply with the CAB matters for the Bangsamoro, Mindanao, and for the whole country in general”, Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said on a video recorded message played during the event.
Professor Tirmizy Abdullah of the History Department of Mindanao State University discussed the History of the Bangsamoro Peace Process. “The more we know about the Bangsamoro history, the better prepared we are for the future”, said Prof. Abdullah. Other resource persons were: Helen Rojas, women sector; Commissioner Nasserudin Dunding of the Bangsamoro Youth Commission; Archie Buaya, tribal leader of the Indigenous Peoples; Cabinet Secretary, Mohd Asnin Pendatun; BTA Minority Leader, Atty. Laisa Masuhud Alamia; Anna Pacete-Marundan of the Independent Decommissioning Body; Ariel Hernandez of Joint Normalization Committee; and Bangsamoro Director General, Engr. Mohajirin Ali of the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority.
Some of the objectives of the forum is to encourage more peace builders in the region as well as to remind the people about their collective duty to help in making the Bangsamoro a peaceful and progressive region for all.
