A lecture at Ateneo de Manila University highlights the deteriorating implementation of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, citing stalled normalization, political interference, MILF fragmentation, and the risk of returning to widespread, lawless violence if urgent corrective actions are not taken.
The work for peace in the Philippines continues amid significant challenges, as underscored by the resumption of meetings of the Peace Implementing Panels following the July 15 appointment of Presidential Peace Adviser Mel Senen Sarmiento as concurrent chair of the government panel.
In remarks delivered at the President Benigno Simeon Aquino III Memorial Lecture on Leadership and Democratic Governance on 18 June 2026 at the Ateneo de Manila University, a speaker addressed the state of the Bangsamoro peace process, noting that while large-scale violence has been avoided for over a decade, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed in 2014 is now in a state of disarray. The Normalization track has seen decommissioning suspended since August of the previous year, and the government implementation panel has been without a head since February.
Moreover, the annual budget of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) favors PAMANA projects nationwide over dedicated normalization efforts, while hundreds of millions of pesos in unspent peacebuilding funds have been returned to the National Treasury. The political transition under the CAB has also been seriously compromised by the removal of MILF Chair Al Haj Murad Interim Chief Minister in March of the prior year, ahead of elections repeatedly postponed and now set for September 14, 2026.
The MILF has splintered into two competing political parties, a break widely perceived as orchestrated by the national government, sparking massive rallies and public protests in Cotabato and Manila. With both factions retaining combat capacities and private armies still not disbanded as mandated, there is growing fear of a new wave of unrestrained, lawless violence-potentially fueled by extremist narratives and a new generation of fighters-rather than a return to organized revolutionary warfare that could be negotiated back to the peace table.
The speaker emphasized that the peace process is far from finished and called for renewed commitment to prevent a relapse into bloodshed and ensure the long-term stability of the Bangsamoro region and the country as a whole
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