The de-commissioning of 145 mujahideen from the MILF and turnover of some of their high powered firearms yesterday at the old provincial capitol in Maguindanao is not only a symbolic ‘peace offering’ from the MILF, but an evidence of its sincerity in keeping faith with the implementation of the peace agreement despite the legal tussle over the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

So today, “Peace” is no longer a slogan but a living reality we can actually grasp and nurture. The Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) and its allied networks such as the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW), Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) and the Friends of the Bangsamoro (FoBM) appreciates that the process of crafting of the BBL has expanded our country’s assets for peacebuilding and created favorable conditions for genuine peace. However, IID is aware that even if Congress passes the BBL into law, it will not automatically produce Human Security.

The Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) mark today as a new stage in the quest for peace and development in the conflict-affected regions of Muslim Mindanao. We laud and express our appreciation for the peace panels of both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), their various offices and agencies involved in the various processes, the long list of supporters, advocates and observers, both local and international, who have all helped in keeping the peace process on track despite the many hurdles and challenges lodged in its way. We take this time to make special mention of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and their leadership, who at times came across as unassailable rivals yet in the end, chose to stay the course, walk in step, seek compromise, then consensus and complete the task laid before them.

The Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW) offers these words of kindness to all peacemakers of the Bangsamoro. Indeed, blessings will come for those who have offered their lives, limbs and all.

As the accord we all have been working for has been reached, we hope that the guns will remain silent and the ploughshares, goodwill, and nation building replace them. Kudos to the peace panels, their principals, civil society and their constituents and more so the Filipino and Bangsamoro peoples for staying the hard, difficult road in accompanying and seeing through this process to reach this cherished dream.

It is with renewed hope and enthusiasm that we, the Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW), meet the agreement reached by both panels of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at the just concluded 38th round of peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The midnight-hour agreement on the Annex on Resource Generation and Wealth-Sharing may have historically been the most long-drawn out process yet experienced since the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) nine months ago. Yet despite this, both panels persevered and proved that our trust in them was well-placed and well-earned, as they exerted themselves to the utmost in finding the necessary flexibility and space to come to an acceptable conclusion.