MindaNews calls out low priority given to Mindanao peace agenda

CHEERS TO MindaNews for calling attention to the Bangsamoro peace process in Mindanao, an urgent issue that the Marcos Jr. administration has made no attempt to address. A report on July 2 noted the President’s inaction as a reflection of the low priority he is giving to peace and development in the region. 

Carolyn Arguillas’ report raised questions about Marcos Jr.’s priorities for Mindanao. She cited the lack of any definitive statements about issues in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Marawi rehabilitation. There has been hardly any statement on a peace agenda even in the most general terms—not during the campaign or after his election. In an ambush interview following a campaign rally in Marawi City on March 31, Marcos Jr. insisted that Marawi rehabilitation was “already being finished” by the Duterte administration and that there was no need to prioritize it in case of his election. 

Arguillas recalled the slow, unfinished work of rebuilding Marawi after the military bombardment in May 2017. The report also cited two peace agreements that the Marcos Jr. administration will inherit from its predecessor: the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Both peace agreements are yet to be fully implemented, which leaves the new administration with a huge obligation to meet. 

Comparing Duterte and Marcos, the report recalled that the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process was one of the first posts to be filled by the former. The Peace Adviser post, along with other key positions under the Marcos Jr. administration, remains vacant at this time.

Arguillas cited an open letter addressed to Marcos Jr. by civil society organizations involved in the Bangsamoro peace process. In their June 27 letter, the groups recommended steps that the president should take to ensure the continuity of the process, including among others the fast-tracking of the normalization process of the signed peace agreement, the immediate appointment of key officials in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the governing body of BARMM, as well as the Marawi Compensation Board. Unfortunately, this letter was hardly noted by the national news media.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), now called the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), is a post-Martial Law agency, designed so government could move away from the excessive militarization efforts to counter the three insurgencies that challenged Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. 

Marcos Jr. may not be entirely reconciled to having a peace agenda. He has taken every effort to talk about how great his father was. After 1986, every elected president has regarded the peace agenda as defined by the OPPAP as national policy. If Marcos Jr. is having problems with this, the media should report this to the people as it would have crucial consequences to the peace process. 

Arguilla’s lead deserves collective follow up from journalists. Like all Filipinos, media should be open to the various paths for peace building nationwide. Keeping an eye on how Bongbong Marcos proceeds on this front is a critical first step.