Malacanang: Filipinos should read Bangsamoro peace pact

Malacanang appealed to all Filipinos to closely review the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement (BFA), saying the peace accord will benefit the Bangsamoro whether they be members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front or the Lumads.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda issued the appeal in a press briefing in Malacanang on Monday amid reports that the MNLF would declare independence for Mindanao if the BFA would be implemented through the abrogation of the 1996 peace agreement between the Government of the Philippines and the MNLF.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles clarified that what the government sought was the termination of the tripartite review mechanism brokered by the Organization of Islamic Conference and maintained that "the government will continue to engage relevant parties of the MNLF, through the existing mechanism, to find a just and comprehensive political solution for the issue of the southern Philippines."

Lacierda said the BFA, once completed, would foster peace and development in Mindanao whose benefits would redound to all, as this was a "major improvement over the organic Act of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao."

"The Bangsamoro Framework Agreement will benefit all Bangsamoro. It includes whether you are MILF, MNLF or Lumad, kasama kayo sa makikinabang sa Bangsamoro Framework Agreement," Lacierda said.

"We ask all people, all Bangsamoro to take a look at the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement. This is a major improvement over the organic act of the ARMM and therefore, we will come up with the framework agreement as well as the annexes ultimately to peace and development in Mindanao," he added.

"And therefore we ask the MNLF to seriously look into this agreement, not as MNLF but as Bangsamoro, and it includes everyone: MILF, MNLF and the Lumads," he further said.

The BFA is a commitment by the government and the MILF to establish a new autonomous political entity in Muslim Mindanao. It will replace the ARMM with a more empowered and more equitable system called the Bangsamoro. (PNA)