Cotabato City (CNN Philippines) — March 27 this year marked the second anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro (CAB) — a landmark peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) aimed at putting an end to the decades-old conflict in Mindanao.
When the agreement was signed in 2014, Moro rebels welcomed its historic signing which took place in Malacañang.
Two years later, that environment of optimism is now clouded with uncertainty.
Related: ‘Disappointment’ over non-passage of BBL entices extremism in Mindanao — OPAPP
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal has admitted that there is growing frustration among their ranks over the impasse on the peace process.
But MILF leaders are continuously engaging ground commanders, to explain to the latter the current status of the peace agreement.
Government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer has said the non-implementation of the CAB will not only revive the Mindanao conflict. She said that extremist groups may take advantage of the frustration among the Moro rebels to breed violent radicalism, as seen in terror attacks happening in different countries lately.
“The CAB binds the government and the MILF to a road map that serves as the best deterrent to violent extremism and lays down the needed social and political reform that would see the full transformation of the Bangsamoro region into a center of peace and development,” she explained in a statement.
And with President Benigno Aquino III stepping down in June, there are also growing concerns if the next administration will uphold the CAB.
Most of the presidential candidates are giving mixed signals on where they stand on the Mindanao peace process. The MILF is hoping that presidential candidates get a better understanding of the Mindanao situation, as well as the CAB.
Peace advocates from the government, the MILF and civil society groups gathered at Notre Dame University in Cotabato City.
The gathering sought to sustain a kind of optimism to push the peace process despite the many obstacles.
