Bangsamoro Reaction Paper

The government of the Republic of the Philippines has seen administration after administration taking to the negotiating table to meet with Muslim secessionist groups that want to form a separate Bangsamoro (Islamic State). Negotiations for a lasting peace have a long and deep history that stretches from the current Aquino Administration to the Marcos regime.

A significant turn of events during the term of President Marcos in 1967 occurred when as many as 68 Filipino Muslim military trainees were murdered in Corregidor allegedly by soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in what was known as the “Jabidah Massacre." The trainees were part of a plot by the Marcos administration to infiltrate Sabah and foment a rebellion. They were killed

The move was lauded by observers on both sides7.

THE BANGSAMORO BASIC LAW

On 15 October 2012, a preliminary peace agreement was signed in the Malacañan Palace between the MILF and the GRP. This was the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which called for the creation of an autonomous political entity named Bangsamoro, replacing the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The signing came at the end of peace talks held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in October of that year. These talks were the last of 32 peace talks between the two parties, which spanned a period of nine years.

On 27 March 2014, a final peace agreement fully fleshing out the terms of the framework agreement and annexes, known as the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) was signed between the two parties. Under the agreement, the Islamic separatists would turn over their firearms to a third party, which would be selected by the rebels and the Philippine government. The MILF had agreed to

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decommission its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF). In return, the government would establish an autonomous