Iqbal seeks general amnesty for MILF combatants to join 2025 BARMM polls

The Marcos administration should grant a general amnesty to former Moro Islamic Liberation Front combatants to allow them to bid for elective posts in the first ever Bangsamoro Parliament polls in May 2025,  MILF Peace Implementing Panel chairperson Mohagher Iqbal said.

Iqbal made the call as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the peace deal between the government and the MILF named Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

“Dapat, general amnesty [for MILF] on or before October this year. Kung kami po ang tatanungin, mas maganda general amnesty proclamation kasi otherwise, matagal na proseso po ‘yang grant of amnesty. In general amnesty, there will be less documentary requirements,” Iqbal, who also serves as BARMM's Education Minister, told The Mangahas Interviews.

(It should be a general amnesty on or before October this year. If you'll ask us, general amnesty proclamation is better because the grant of an amnesty is a long process.)

Senate earlier adopted House Concurrent Resolutions No. 19, 20, 21, and 22, which are aligned with Presidential Proclamations 403, 404, 405, and 406, granting amnesty to the members of the following groups:

• Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB)
• Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF)
• Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and
• MILF

“We submitted a list of around 700 people, but that is an initial list because the Senate resolution [on granting amnesty] was only adopted less than a month ago. Hindi pa talaga naumpisahan nang masinsinan ang listahan. If their amnesty won’t be processed in time, then they cannot file a certificate of candidacy for the 2025 polls. That would disenfranchise the MILF,” Iqbal added.

The BARMM is currently governed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority composed of the members of the Bangsamoro Parliament, of which Iqbal is also a member.

The 80-strong Bangsamoro Parliament is composed of 40 political party representatives, 32 district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives from women, youth, indigenous peoples, and non-Moros.

At present, the MILF's United Bangsamoro Justice Party composed the majority of the Bangsamoro Parliament.

The MILF’s strength as a political entity, however, will be tested for the very first time in the 2025 inaugural Bangsamoro polls, and Iqbal was candid that the MILF needs the government support to implement the peace agreement amid an array of challenges.

“We signed the CAB, we [the MILF] are now part of the government. Kapag hindi naapprove [ang amnesty] nang maaga, magkakaroon tayo ng problema diyan (If the amnesty will not be approved early enough, we will have a problem),” he said.

“There’s also a pending petition against the Bangasamoro Electoral Code in the Supreme Court. If it is declared unconstitutional, walang elections sa BARMM, ano ang mangyayari (there will be no elections, what will happen)? We will be in an abnormal situation, I don’t know how we will address that. Those are the consequences,” he added.

Iqbal also said that while the MILF has held the majority seats in the Bansgamoro Parliament since the region was established in 2019, a majority win in the 2025 polls is not a sure thing as they will be going up against the political clans who have been ruling the BARMM provinces for years.

“The ball is round, anything could happen. That [majority win] is our hope, but we are working on that situation towards the 2025 election. The United Bangsamoro Justice Party is pushing for reforms on the basis of the BOL (Bangsamoro Organic Law that created the BARMM) and CAB, and we are facing a very strong status quo,” he said.

“Malakas na malakas ang status quo, especially in Cotabato City and Maguindanao which has been led by the same clan dating back to the Spanish time to the present They are professionals, they know the ins and outs of elections, and we realize this will be difficult, but we are dead set in overcoming the challenges. We in the MILF, did not expect that we would reach this point but we persisted, we persevered,” Iqbal added.

MILF’s patience for the process, Iqbal said, also applies in the granting of the amnesty.

“It is a process. There are areas of implementation. It cannot cut corners. But there’s bureaucratic red tape, and there is urgency in the situation. Mas maganda na medyo mapabilis, and so we are expressing the sense of having a general amnesty proclamation,” he said.

“Kung hindi po maprocess, as I have said, magkakaroon tayo ng problema because the MILF will be disenfranchised,” hel added.

Iqbal, however, assured that the MILF is committed to reforms, including anti-corruption and peaceful way of life, especially that the BARMM has already achieved 50% of the 2014 peace deal goals.

“This [situation of us in government] is not a result of aspiration. This is a consequence of a long drawn out armed struggle and negotiation of 17 years.  On a personal and collective aspect, we don’t want to end our life na mapunta kami sa impyerno. I cannot say that totally, there is no corruption, because an employee who is late for work already committed corruption on time, but our official policy is that we don’t tolerate corruption. We don’t do that,” Iqbal, who spent 52 years of his life in armed struggle and negotiating a peace deal with the government, pointed out.

“The option of war, wala na ho sa amin. I hope in the future governments, the murder of the Moros, the grabbing of our land, won’t happen again. We are moving forward, but the road is not paved...there are humps and bumps, twists and turns, challenges, but I would say it is more than 50 [steps] out of 100 [10 years since]," he said.

This is because the implementation of the CAB, Iqbal said, is anchored on sincerity, faith, determination and commitment from both parties.

“Not everybody is aware or interested in our journey, they think all is well by now, but the journey is continuing, and what is important is that we will overcome these challenges. That is why it is significant for us to commemorate the 10th year anniversary of the signing of the CAB,” he added.—AOL, GMA Integrated News