Galvez to MILF: Let us not stall peace process
DAVAO CITY—Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. called on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to continue “doing its share” in the implementation of the Bangsamoro peace process, saying the gains achieved by the parties “are too precious to be stalled.”
Galvez made the plea in response to the announcement of MILF chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim temporarily suspending their engagement on several aspects of the peace process.
Ebrahim pointed out that the MILF Peace Implementing Panel (PIP), chaired by Mohagher Iqbal, does not have a counterpart following the reported resignation of Government PIP (GPIP) chair Cesar Yano.
In the absence of a formally designated GPIP chair, the MILF finds itself unable to proceed with substantive engagements that require formal commitments and authoritative decisions, Ebrahim said.
‘Headless counterpart’
“The MILF Peace Implementing Panel cannot negotiate and engage with a headless counterpart,” Ebrahim stressed in a statement dated March 12 but made public only last Tuesday.
Ebrahim reiterated his group’s “steadfast commitment” to the full and faithful implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) even if the MILF declared “a temporary pause in several aspects of engagement under the peace implementation mechanisms” until a GPIP chair is appointed.
In a statement on Wednesday, Galvez said that the selection of the GPIP is an internal process of the government, which, however, “should not affect the work of the peace mechanisms and the efforts of all stakeholders working for peace in the Bangsamoro.”
Galvez, who heads the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (Opapru), said his agency is in charge of “implementing the government’s overall peace policy agenda.”
“While the Opapru recognizes the concerns raised by the MILF leadership, we must never lose sight of the people whose lives depend on the implementation of the peace process,” he said.
Galvez reminded the MILF that the CAB “is more than just a peace accord.”
“It is a sacred peace covenant. Every ‘temporary pause’ translates into a day of uncertainty for the former combatants, their families and the communities currently undergoing the transformation process,” he said.
