“(W)e worked hard to agree on this transitional security arrangement. I am truly honored to see the fruition of what we together envisioned during the negotiations — that is former protagonists now working (together) to secure peace and prosperity for their communities. What we once dream of in KL is now becoming a reality.”
— Interior Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo
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Twitter: @edd1819, Instagram: @bluestar0910, Facebook: SDN — Science, Digital & Current Affairs
By EDD K. USMAN
Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-f9A
(SDN) — Once fierce enemies, now allies for peace and security in the Bangsamoro Homeland!
The ones being referred to are the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) on one side, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF-MILF), on the other.
From protagonists to comrades-in-arm, that was a pipe dream at before the signing of the March 27, 2014, Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). Seem like enemies can’t be enemies forever. That was for around 40 years when Moro fighters fought the military and the police in an internecine war between brothers.
Good for the Philippines, a nation of some 110 million Filipinos, and counting, that those were bygone days.
Lawyer Naguib G. Sinarimbo, one of the Moro leaders with very deep involvement in the Mindanao peace process, spoke fondly of the dividends of peace, acknowledging the partnership of two former enemies on the battlefield. He is now the minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM-MILG).
“I, together with colleagues in the peace negotiations in KL (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), joined the closing ceremony for the 4th Batch of JPSTs or Joint Peace and Security Teams trainees as guest of honor and speaker in Camp Salipada K. Pendatun, headquarters of the Philippine National Police in the Bangsamoro (Parang, Maguindanao). The JPST is a joint force consisting of contingents from the MILF-BIAF, PNP, and AFP tasked to secure communities in the Bangsamoro and help settle conflicts,” emphasized Sinarimbo.
Also the spokesman of the BARMM, the MILG chief recalled that at the time of the negotiations in Kuala Lumpur, facilitated and hosted by Malaysia, “we worked hard to agree on this transitional security arrangement. I am truly honored to see the fruition of what we together envisioned during the negotiations — that is former protagonists now working (together) to secure peace and prosperity for their communities. What we once dream of in KL is now becoming a reality.”
Sinarimbo indicated that the striving for peace and security and economic development did not end with the peace accord. He called on for constancy towards the aspiration for tranquility and unity.
“Let us all work hard to preserve the gains of the peace process and make sure that we secure an environment in the Bangsamoro conducive to fully implementing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro,” he said.
It can be recalled that the MILF and at first the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) waged a war of independence against the Philippine government. After what is estimated to be more than 120,000 war victims in the name of self-determination and freedom, the MNLF and the MILF in separate peace talks agreed with the government in scaling down their demand from independence to autonomy for the local Muslims.
Thus, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and later the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Philippines’ first parliamentary form of government.
Now, with the core territories of the ARMM, the BARMM is comprised of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi. The Bangsamoro region also covers 63 barangays or villages in North Cotabato under the so-called Special Geographic Area (SGA) when their Muslim inhabitants voted in plebiscite to join the BARMM. (/)