Marcos vows full implementation of peace deals in Bangsamoro

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday vowed to fulfill and enforce peace agreements in the Bangsamoro region.

Marcos made the commitment amid the 9th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

"We in the national government will do our part to fulfill our commitments under the peace agreements and see its full implementation. We shall not waver from this," Marcos said in a video message.

"As we have said before, the path to lasting peace is always under construction but we shall build and walk this path together so that our children and the generations more that will follow shall live lives of prosperity and of peace," he added.

Marcos expressed belief that under his governance, "the political and normalization tracks of the peace agreement continue to gain momentum."

"Our partners in the BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) continue to deliver on their commitments in both tracks, with the recent passing of the critical Bangsamoro Electoral Code," Marcos said.

For his part, acting Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Secretary Isidro Purisima said fulfilling peace commitments would include the decommissioning process and developing the areas in the Bangsamoro region.

"At iyan po ay isang gagawin po natin dito sa Bangsamoro sa pamamagitan ng pag-continue natin na magdi-decommission, iyong mga armas doon sa mga lugar, pag-develop natin ng socioeconomic doon sa mga areas natin, at iyan po ay gagawin natin dito sa area natin ng Bangsamoro," Purisima said in a separate public briefing.

(It's one of the things that we will do in the Bangsamoro, we will continue the decommissioning process as well as developing the socioeconomic aspects of the areas in the Bangsamoro.)

Earlier, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) said the decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front members is set to be finished by 2024.

The CAB was signed during the administration of late President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. It paved the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro, a new political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. —VAL, GMA Integrated News