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'Open, sincere dialogue' with MILF best way to break impasse - OPAPRU

Philippine News Agency

By Priam Nepomuceno
August 19, 2025, 1:44 pm

MANILA -- An "open and sincere" dialogue is the best way to address the current impasse between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Tuesday.

In a statement, Galvez said despite the current differences, the Bangsamoro peace process remains "robust and dynamic."

"To address these apparent differences, we believe an open and sincere dialogue between both sides is the best way forward," the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) chief said, reiterating that the government remains fully committed to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The CAB is the peace agreement signed by the government and the MILF in 2014 that aims to resolve the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao and establish the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

"The Bangsamoro peace process remains robust and dynamic owing to the steadfast commitment of both the government and the MILF to its broader aims," Galvez said.

On July 19, the MILF Central Committee temporarily suspended the implementation of the fourth and final decommissioning of MILF fighters until there is "substantial compliance" by the Philippine government in the other tracks of the normalization process, including the provision of a socio-economic package as agreed upon by the government and MILF peace implementing panels.

Galvez said they view MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim's MILF Memorandum Order No. 3 — which prohibits its commanders and officials from taking part in any "decommissioning or normalization activities" organized by the national government — as an "internal matter for the organization."

Meanwhile, Galvez said the government is open to discussing with the MILF leadership which programs can be jointly implemented without violating any prohibition related to the Oct. 13 BARMM parliamentary elections.

An activity that will be affected by the election ban is the decommissioning of combatants and firearms, as the gun ban prevents the government from carrying out such operations. (PNA)