With the signing of the last and 4th Annex on Normalization last January 25th, the environment is ripe for a Comprehensive Peace Compact between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.  The question is when this would happen…?  Government and MILF say that they would be able to ink the Final Peace Agreement by March 2014.

The signing of the last and 4th Annex on Normalization is very crucial since it spells the processes involved that several refer to as the issue of Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration or the controversial 3-letter DDR.

The much awaited document puts the concept of DDR within the wider context of ‘normalization’.  The GPH and the MILF have agreed that ‘normalization’ refers to ‘a process whereby communities can achieve their desired quality of life, which includes the pursuit of sustainable livelihood and political participation within a peaceful and deliberative body’.

Another major achievement of the Annex on Normalization is the agreement to accept the framework of Human Security instead of the narrow ‘national security’ framework that is presently operational in the minds of policy makers and leadership of the security sectors in the country.  Human Security includes among others food security, job security and the recognition of Basic Human Rights where the inhabitants of the future Bangsamoro can live without fear of violence or crime.

The paramount considerations tackled in the Annex are the issues of Policing, Decommissioning and Re-Integration of the Combatants, Disbanding of the Private Armies, the Reconstruction of all Areas of Conflict and Transitional Justice.  Definitely, this is a ‘mouthful’!  And the real challenge for Government and the MILF would be their capacity to put these into the Basic Law and Implement the Law once enacted and approved in a plebiscite called for the purpose.

This early the two questions being raised are the following:

The signatories to the Annex are the Philippine Government and the MILF. So people expect that the signatories would comply with their agreement when the same has been legislated.  However, when it comes to the compliance of other armed groups like MNLF, BIFF, ASG and other private armies to any disarmament process, the simple answer is that they are not signatories to the said normalization process.  Thus there is no obligation to comply…!

The issue on ‘Policing’ in the Bangsamoro would require the capacity to reconcile it with the existing PNP Law that states that the PNP is civilian in character and national in scope.  How a separate and distinct Police Force for the Bangsamoro with the responsibility for law enforcement and maintenance of peace and order be ‘reconciled’ to the existing PNP structure and operations in the Region? The issue of future ‘Policing’ in the Bangsamoro would include among others, the ‘appointment, employment, and deployment’ of the Bangsamoro Police Forces and the appointment of their head and other Officers of the said Police Force.  During the transition these powers shall be exercised by the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA) until the regular Bangsamoro Government has been established and their members been duly elected and qualified.

Though the peace talks between the GPH and the MILF are nearing the finish line, there are still ‘miles to go’.  After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Compact, the BTC has to produce a Draft Basic Law (hopefully it can be completed by May 2014). Then Congress would work on the said draft and enact the Bangsamoro Basic Law (hopefully before the yearend).  After it has been signed by the President into Law, then there is the Plebiscite for the purpose of ratification in all areas identified in the Basic Law.

The best scenario in the whole process of legislating the peace agreement is that Congress would, substantially, adopt the Draft Basic Law.  Then the people of the areas identified would ratify the said Law (1st quarter of 2015).  Only after the ratification of the new Basic Law would the Bangsamoro as a new political entity and the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority would become real!

In this journey, there are many pitfalls and dangers…  We just hope and pray that both GPH and MILF would be able to surmount the difficulties and dangers.  Paraphrasing Robert Front’s poem… definitely, both the GPH and the MILF have a promise to keep and they still have miles to go. Yes, miles to go!

Fr. Eliseo Mercado is senior policy adviser at the Institute for Autonomy & Governance. Follow him on Twitter @junmeromi.