Helping Pave the way for the Bangsamoro Government! Embracing a Hopeful Future for Mindanao!

We, members of the Mindanao Civil Society Organizations Platform for Peace (MCSOPP), gathered beginning Feb. 10, 2014 for the three-day Mindanao CSO Leaders Peace Summit, to reaffirm our strong commitment to continue accompanying the peace process between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

We celebrate the end of the 17-year negotiations between the parties, brought by the forging of an Annex on Normalization to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and an Addendum on Bangsamoro Waters last Jan. 25, 2014.

As we take off our hats to the respective leaderships of government and the MILF, we also honor all the men and women who struggled for the Bangsamoro right to self-determination. The incremental gains from their efforts through the years made possible the successful conclusion of the negotiations.

Now that a negotiated political formula is at hand, we brace ourselves for the next challenging phase of the peace process—that of implementation.

We continue to commit and offer all-out support to the rollout of measures leading to the establishment of the Bangsamoro, from pushing for Congressional enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to ensuring informed consent among the people during the plebiscite to ratify it. We will do everything to help pave the way for the successful birth of the Bangsamoro entity by noon of June 30, 2016.

We will exhaust all possibilities to ensure that such process will be transparent, inclusive and sensitive to the legitimate interests of the peoples in Mindanao. Hence, we will wholeheartedly contribute our ideas and thoughts through the public consultations, or through other means like the mass media, to ensure that the charter of the Bangsamoro effectively responds to the needs and aspirations of grassroots communities.

A rightful and just conclusion to the Moro rebellion must also unleash a transformative process among Mindanao’s grassroots communities.

We call upon our political leaders to give way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro. Let us set aside our personal interests and allow meaningful changes to truly happen in the Bangsamoro areas.

Let us bid goodbye to the dreadful waste of opportunites, economic resources, and personal energies because of war and conflict.

Together, let us embrace a hopeful future for the Bangsamoro, Mindanao, and the Philippines!

Signed this 13th day of February 2014 at The Royal Mandaya Hotel, Davao City.

1.     Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS)

2.     Tulung Lupah ‘Sug

3.     Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms (C-Care)

4.     Maranao PEOPLE Development Center, Inc., (MARADECA)

5.     United Youth for Peace and Development (UNYPAD)

6.     Mindanao Action for Peace and Development (MAPAD)

7.     Moro Women Development and Cultural Center (MWDECC)

8.     Bangsamoro Center for Just and Peace, Inc. (BCJP)

9.     Bangsamoro Women Action for Development Initiatives (BWADI)

10.  United  Youth of the Philippines (UNYPHIL-Women)

11.  Mindanao Alliance for Peace (MAP)

12.  Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)/Executive Director

13.  Mindanao Solidarity Network (MSN)

14.  Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)

15.  Sustainable Cooperation for Equitable Enterprise Development, Inc. (SUCCEED)

16.  Lumpingan for Peace and Development Inc., (LPDI)

17.  Tabang Ako Siyap ko Bangsa Iranun saya ko Kalilintad ago Kapamagayon Inc. (TASBIKKA)

18.  National Association for Bangsamoro Education, Inc.

19.  MSU Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM)

20.  Kalimudan Foundation Inc.

21.  Bangsamoro Women Solidarity Forum (BWSF)

22.  Islamic Movement for Electoral Reform and Good Government (IMERGG)

23.  Muslim-Christian Alliance for Rural Development (MUCARD)

24.  Southern Christian College-Civil Peace Service

25.  Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC)

26.  Peace Unity Services Advocates Thru Knowledge Advancement (PUSAKA)

27.  Cotabato Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CCPDI)

28.  Balay Rehabilitation Center

29.  Basilan Advocates for Peace and Sustainable Development Association (BAPESDA)

30.  Pailig Development Foundation, Inc. (PDFI)

31.  Mindanao Commission on Women–Iligan Area Coordinating Group

32.  Jaycee International-Dayang Dayang Chapter

33.  Pailig Academy for Grassroots Democracy (PAGD)

34.  Pakigdait, Inc.

35.  Civil Society Organizations Forum for Peace (CSOFP)

36.  Kapamagogopa, Inc. (KI)

37.  Lanao Peace Partnership (LPP)