Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-RpI

MANILA, August 18, 2025 (SDN) — The Titayan 2 peace forum at Acacia Hotel in Davao City will kick off on Tuesday, August 19, organized by the Friends of Peace (FOP), with Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo its most prominent leader.

Stakeholders, members of academe, and professionals are expected to converge in this Southern Philippines metropolis, among them leaders of civil society organizations (CSOs) high on achieving peace in the country, including in the  Bangsamoro region, members of academe, officials of the Philippine Government  (GPH), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), other peace advocates, and guests.

Quevedo has described the Bangsamoro peace process as being “at a significant crossroads in these few months before the October regional parliamentary elections.”

He was referring to the twice-postponed political exercise where candidates compete for 73 parliamentary seats on October 13, with the party able to win a majority getting the privilege to choose the first regular Bangsamoro chief minister.

A highly respected Catholic leader even among Muslims, he noted the regional polls’ significance.

“The successful conduct of the elections will end the Bangsamoro transition and should resolve issues of the BARMM leadership legitimacy,” Quevedo says.

“However, there are questions on the implications of the elections and of current realities on the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the possibility of an Exit Agreement.”

Is he alluding to the present situation where the highest policy making body of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Central Committee (CC), suspended the fourth and final decommissioning process with a resolution on July 19? Affected are 14,000 MILF combatants and 2,450 weapons.

The decision of the MILF CC chaired by Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, former transition chief minister of the BARMM, apparently caught many by surprise. And it makes the FOP’s second iteration of Titayan a timely and pressing event. Its theme aptly revolves around “Bridging to Sustain Peace in the Bangsamoro”.

Well, hardly has the inked of the July 19 MILF resolution dried, so to speak, that the former armed revolutionary organization, now a social movement since September 23, 2024, generated another surprising decision.

Read, also on SDN: GPH, MILF Peace Boat Sailing in Troubled Waters; FOP Convenors to Gather Stakeholders, Seek Common Grounds, Resolve Sticky Issues

As the three-day Titayan 2 (Titayan is bridge in Maguindanaon dialect) is about to happen, what could be another unexpected jolt that may rock the implementation of the CAB, which GPH and MILF signed on March 27, 2014. The accord, coming after 17 years of protracted negotiations in Malaysia (the third-party facilitator), gave the Philippines a much welcome long breather from the Mindanao conflict that pitted Filipinos against Filipinos.

MILF warns Front commanders, Base commanders, and others to follow the “Order”

It was an internecine strife that killed tens of thousands of combatants (soldiers and Moro rebels) and civilians, the bloodshed creating rivers of blood in the so-called Land of Promise.

Things are happening fast presently in the peace process.

First, the MILF suspended the resumption of the decommissioning process, a vital part of the CAB’s Annex on Normalization, second, the group founded by the late Ustadhz Salamat Hashim issued a new “directive”, Memorandum Order No. 037, Series of 2025, addressed to all Front commanders and Base Commanders of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (MILF-BIAF), and other line agencies.

The memorandum, dated August 16, 2025, prohibits those concerned from attending and participating in National Government/OPAPRU unilateral normalization activities unless they get prior approval and authority from the MILF leadership. OPAPRU is Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity.

“Pursuant to the July 19, 2025, Resolution of the Central Committee which temporarily suspended the implementation of the Fourth and Final Phase of decommissioning process, it is important that all Front Commanders, Base Commanders, heads of line agencies of the organization and their subordinates strictly observe protocol and official channels in dealing with our National Government counterparts,” the directive signed by Chair Ebrahim emphasizes.

With these twin developments, stakeholders would surely want to know if the GPH and MILF peace boat is heading towards turbulent waters? Or is this just a normal phase of a long and winding journey for peace?

Apparently, the MILF’s beef is what it claims the national government’s alleged “unilateral implementation” through the OPAPRU of some aspects of the CAB, the latest of which happened on August 6 for decommissioned combatants without the presence or participation of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel.

The MILF warned that non-compliance with its August 16 “Order constitutes a serious breach of command discipline and may be grounds for administrative and disciplinary action.”

In these uncertain times in the Bangsamoro peace process, people with cooler heads must come forward and provide the bridge to repair any disconnect between the GPH and the MILF before a rupture develops in the CAB’s implementation that may sink the peace boat.

And even before the captain of the peace boat gets the idea to give the order to abandon ship!

And this is where the FOP comes in.

“The current critical moment of transition is definitely one that requires more bridging, reflection and engagement of broad civil society and multi-stakeholders for sustainable peace. Therefore, the Friends of Peace and key partner organizations and networks will once again convene civil society organizations (CSOs) and peace networks in a gathering dubbed Titayan 2 and guided by the theme Bridging to Sustain Peace in the Bangsamoro,” Quevedo says. 

In a related development, SDN – SciTech & Digital News reached out International Crisis Group’s (ICG) senior analyst in the Philippines, Georgij Engelbrecht, asking him of his reaction on the present developments in the Bangsamoro peace process.

“Ideally, the Central Government and the MILF need to convene a meeting on the level of the panels as soon as possible, perhaps even before October. But at the same time, a top-level dialogue is needed to keep the President (Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.) in the loop,” Engelbrect suggests. “It is also for CSOs to step up and not only provide general rhetorical support but also concrete solutions and policy ideas.”

The ICG senior analyst from Germany, a long-time resident in the country and well-traveled in Mindanao, learning local dialects in the process, also noted the crucial role of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), and emphasizing the need to act post haste.

“Of course, the interim government has to focus on the political track but normalization concerns all. But the danger remains that most political actors will only invest energy into fixing the many issues after October. Yet the time to act is now.”

SDN also requested a reaction from an OPAPRU official about the MILF’s memorandum to its commanders, but there was no reply as of this story’s posting.

Quevedo will lead a battery of speakers with his Welcome Remarks, Prof. Rufa Caguco-Guiam will deliver an Inspirational Message.

August 19:

For Session 1, Conversations with the chairs of the Peace Implementing Panels: GPH Presidential Assistant Cesar Yano, OPAPRU, and Mohagher M. Iqbal with their respective presentations followed by an Open Forum.

For Session 2, Progress and Challenges in the Bangsamoro: Civil Society Perspectives through a Panel Discussion and Open Forum with the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, Principles for PEace Bangsamoro Accompaniment, Catholic Relief Services, Strengthening Initiatives re-Defining Actions of Women (SINDAW).

Session 3, Bangsamoro Transition Authority Report (BTA): BARMM Accomplishments and Challenges 2019-2025 and Priorities of the New Leadership by BARMM interim Chief Minister Abdulraof A. Macacua.

Session 4: Results of the May 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) in the BARMM with Atty. Ona Caritos, LENTE, the October 2025 First Regional Elections in the BARMM by Atty. Ray Sumalipao, Commission on Elections (Comelec) regional director for BARMM, and Open Forum.

August 20:

Session 5, Civil Society Conversations on Difficult Topics in the Bangsamoro Peace Process, Pakighabi, Plenary Conversation by all participants of Titayan 2.

Session 6, Civil Society Commitments: Bridging to Sustain Peace in the Bangsamoro, Pakighabi, and Plenary Conversation, also to be joined by all participants.

The Closing Program will be followed by Engaging the Media / Press Conference by the Friends of Peace, such as Quevedo, Bae Liza Saway (Mindanao People’s Caucus), Guiamel Alim (Consortium of Bangsamoro Society), Gus Miclat (Initiatives for International Dialogue), Mags Z. Maglana (Konsensya Dabaw), Karen Tañada (GZO Peace Institute), and Carol Arguillas (MindaNews). — EDD K. Usman (√)

_________