Bangsamoro supporters urge anew Malacañang to protect peace gains

COTABATO CITY– Peace advocates, former Moro combatants, civil society groups, and youth organizations gathered in Mendiola, Manila, on Monday morning to renew their calls for the national government to uphold the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and protect the gains of the peace process.

The latest peace rally was organized under the banner of “Move for Peace Now!”

READ: The Bangsamoro dilemma

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Datu Tokz Bin Abdulrahman, spokesperson for Move for Peace Now!, appealed to Malacañang to listen to the “voice of the Bangsamoro people” and address concerns surrounding the implementation of the CAB, which paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019.

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Abdulrahman told the Inquirer by phone that the group remains hopeful that the government will respond to their appeal, although not immediately.

“We are appealing to Malacañang to hear our concerns and requests. While we do not necessarily expect immediate action, we continue to hope that they will respond because what is at stake here is the peace process and the peace agreement that we must continue to protect,” he said.

The latest rally centered on calls for the full implementation of the CAB, the protection of hard-earned peace gains, and the restoration of leadership aligned with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) within the Bangsamoro transition process.

The CAB is the final peace agreement signed by the government and the MILF in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.

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According to the group, their primary objective is not to create division but to ensure that commitments made under the peace agreement are honored and respected.

“Our only request is for the signed peace agreement to be implemented and respected. It is already there; we simply need to follow and implement what has been agreed upon,” he added.

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READ: Peace adviser to BARMM: Stay calm, united ahead of September polls

The advocates acknowledged that there has been no official response from the national government so far. They said that previous peaceful actions have led to positive developments, which give them reason to remain optimistic./coa

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