COTABATO CITY (March 21) — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has declared a “temporary pause” in aspects of its peace accord with the Philippine government, signaling growing frustration over what it calls a critical leadership vacuum on the state side of the peace process.
In a March 12 statement, MILF Central Committee chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said the absence of a duly appointed head of the government’s peace implementing panel has effectively stalled bilateral decision-making under the landmark Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
Despite the move, the MILF stressed it remains committed to the full implementation of the accord and to securing “a just, durable, and meaningful peace” in the Bangsamoro homeland.
“A dance meant for two”
Ebrahim framed the issue not as a withdrawal, but as a procedural protest rooted in the design of the peace agreement itself.
“The MILF Peace Implementing Panel now stands alone in this dance that was meant for two,” he said, underscoring that the CAB requires joint, not unilateral, action between the parties.
The impasse follows the resignation of retired general Cesar Yano, who had been serving in a leadership capacity in the government panel but was never formally appointed as its chair.
For the MILF, the lack of a counterpart with full authority has created what it describes as a “gaping hole” at a critical stage in the Bangsamoro transition.
Second slowdown in as many years
This is the second time the MILF has slowed implementation of the CAB.
In 2025, the group suspended the final phase of decommissioning of its combatants and weapons—an essential component of normalization—citing concerns over “unilateral” government engagement with field commanders. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) was implicated in that dispute.
The decommissioning track is tied to socioeconomic packages meant to transition former fighters into civilian life—delays that could ripple across communities already navigating fragile post-conflict recovery.
Bilateral mechanism under strain
MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal emphasized that the CAB’s architecture hinges on parity between the two sides.
“The agreement disallows unilateral action,” Iqbal said, noting that without an officially empowered government chair, engagements risk losing legitimacy.
He added that even recent meetings—such as one held in Davao City—were marked by uncertainty, with Yano attending despite lacking formal appointment.
A decade-old accord at a crossroads
Signed in 2014, the CAB paved the way for the passage of Bangsamoro Organic Law (Republic Act 11054) and the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019.
Long regarded as one of the world’s most durable contemporary peace agreements, the CAB has been sustained by what both sides describe as mutual trust and institutional coordination.
But as the transition period enters a decisive phase—marked by normalization, governance
consolidation, and socioeconomic delivery—the MILF’s latest move highlights how bureaucratic gaps in Manila can reverberate on the ground in Mindanao.
What the pause means
The MILF has not specified which mechanisms are affected, but framed the move as a “prudential” step until a new government panel chair is appointed.
Analysts say the signal is clear: the peace process is not collapsing, but it is under strain.
Without a functioning counterpart, the risk is not just delay—but erosion of confidence in a process that has, for more than a decade, depended on sustained political attention from both sides.
