As-sa-la-mua-lai-kum!

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity extends its deepest gratitude to the Organization on Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for issuing a resolution last month calling on its member-countries to increase the support they are providing to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

OIC CFM Resolution No. 2/51-MM, which tackles “The Question of Muslims in the Southern Philippines,” is both timely and relevant considering the peace, security and development challenges the BARMM is currently facing and in light of the first BARMM Regional Parliamentary election scheduled on October 13, 2025.

This resolution is a testament of the OIC’s unwavering support to the Bangsamoro peace process over the years, particularly its desire to help build on and sustain the gains of peace in the region by promoting genuine dialogue and mutual understanding between the Government and the Philippines, leading Moro groups, and other key stakeholders.

We also welcome the OIC’s recognition of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., “for his strong commitments to push for unity, inclusivity, socioeconomic development and interventions to promote peace and development in the BARMM area.”

The OIC was instrumental in the forging of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), as well as the 1996 GPH-MNLF Final Peace Agreement, which aimed to fully implement the Jakarta Agreement and paved the way for the signing of other major peace accords.

Moreover, the OIC commended the Malaysian government for facilitating the signing of the 2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, and subsequently, the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the GPH and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which put an end to the decades-long armed conflict.

Further, the OIC has played a key role in the processes as well as the completion of the Tripartite Review Process (TRP), wherein the Philippine government and the MNLF were able to assess the progress made in the implementation of the 1996 FPA and provide recommendations on how to address challenges.

We would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to request the OIC to also support the implementation of the remaining commitments under the FPA as stipulated in the Joint Communique signed on 26 January 2026 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly the operationalization of the Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund (BDAF) and the Tripartite Implementation Monitoring Committee (TIMC).

The BDAF and TIMC are two key mechanisms that are critical to the implementation of the 1996 FPA. Once they are fully operational, we believe that we shall be able to further accelerate the roll out of our peacebuilding and development interventions that will have a major impact on the lives of the Bangsamoro people.

We welcome the OIC’s support for the appointment of Abdulraof Macacua as the new Interim Chief Minister (ICM) of the BARMM government, and the acknowledgement of the leadership of Murad Ebrahim as the former ICM.

We also expressed our gratitude to the OIC for Commending the Philippine government for the creation of the National Amnesty Commission.

We are also in one with the call of the OIC to strengthen the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum as a platform to harmonize the MNLF and MILF.

We wish to commend and thank the OIC, under the leadership of Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha, for your unwavering commitment and steadfast support to the Bangsamoro peace process. We look forward to continue working with you in the coming years as we bring a just and lasting peace to our Bangsamoro brothers and sisters.

The Marcos administration is fully determined to advance the Bangsamoro peace process, as what President Marcos said during the 28th anniversary of the 1996 FPA last year: “For us to move forward as a strong, undivided nation, the government will continue to pursue a principled and peaceful resolution to internal armed conflicts, with neither blame nor surrender, but with dignity for all.”

Shukran!