Firming up their commitment to Mindanao peace, the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) paid a courtesy visit to the chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Murad Ebrahim, in Camp Darapanan, MILF's main camp in Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao.

The eight-member IAG-KAS delegation was headed by IAG Executive Director Benedicto Bacani and outgoing KAS Country Representative in the Philippines Dr. Peter Koeppinger. Benedikt Seemann, incoming KAS country representative, was introduced to MILF Chairman Murad during the meeting.

Also meeting the delegation were Sammy Al-Mansoor, chief of staff of the MILF's Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) and interim committee chair of the MILF political party, and Toks Ebrahim, former chairman of the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH).

Atty. Bacani said the group mostly discussed the ongoing developments in the negotiations between the Philippine government (GPH) and the MILF.

For its part, KAS reiterated its support to the development of "genuinely principled political parties", one of the features of the proposed Bangsamoro new political entity.

In the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) signed in Manila on October 15, 2012, GPH and MILF agreed to “entrench an electoral system” that “encourages formation of genuinely principled political parties.” The MILF earlier announced that it is organizing its own political party so it could join electoral exercises in the future Bangsamoro. 

The IAG-KAS courtesy visit to MILF Chairman Murad coincided with the GPH and MILF peace panels and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) week-long meeting in Kuala Lumpur where they will try to resolve issues that have arisen from Malacañang's review of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law. 

In a statement, the government admitted that the peace process with the MILF is "going through this difficulty now."  But "it is because we want the next stages to be less difficult not only between the government and the MILF, but among all the institutions and actors that will be or have been playing a role in the process."

The statement added that "a well-processed bill that goes through the legislative mill, with the certification of the President as urgent, will stand much better chances of smooth-sailing passage in both the Senate and the House of Representatives."

For the MILF, the Moro question is political.

"The MILF is firm on its conviction that the current Constitution would require an amendment to finally put to rest the conflict in Mindanao. But the government side is equally firm on their stand that this Constitution has the flexibilities to accommodate and implement legally the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro. These two theses are put to test now and soon a verdict comes out," its editorial in luwaran.com said.