MANILA – Five days before the historic signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels returned from an executive session held in Kuala Lumpur citing readiness to “hit the ground running” for the implementation of the agreement that will pave way for the creation of the envisioned Bangsamoro political entity by 2016.
In an interview over DZXL on Sunday, GPH chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said that both parties have agreed on and initialed the introductory text to the CAB on March 22 in the Malaysian capital. The CAB will be officially signed on March 27 (Thursday) at the Malacañan Palace.
According to the panel chair, the initialed document identified the component parts making up the CAB, reiterates the goals of the peace negotiations, lays down the general principles that would guide the implementation, and thanks the main actors who played a role in reaching the agreement.
Coronel-Ferrer said they were “also able to complete the Terms of Reference for the mechanisms that will be put in place for the Annex on Normalization, which was signed last January.”
The TORs include those for the Joint Normalization Committee, the Independent Decommissioning Body, and the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission. These bodies will support the normalization process through which MILF forces can transition to productive civilian lives and participate in governance reform.
“A body will be created to study the meaning of reconciliation and justice for the people in Mindanao in order for us to make the healing process as comprehensive as possible,” Coronel-Ferrer said in Filipino.
The panel chair stressed that enormous work awaits both parties after the CAB signing. “There are many things to be done,” she said, adding that next in line is finishing the Bangsamoro Basic Law by March 31 by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and identifying the people who will sit in the mechanisms.
In an earlier interview, Coronel-Ferrer said: “There’s no time to rest. We pause briefly for the celebratory signing of the CAB and then go back to work.”
The panel chair said that getting the implementation of the CAB right is crucial for lasting peace and development in Mindanao and the entire Philippines to be attained.
“The GPH Panel is consolidating our programs and will be putting up an office in Cotabato so that we will be very much on the ground. We have to do everything quite fast but without sacrificing the principles of inclusivity and transparency.”
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