Philippine president offers Bangsamoro formula for global peace in UN address

ISTANBUL (AA) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has offered his nation’s experience in peacebuilding in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to the UN Security Council.

“My country’s experiences in building peace and forging new paths of cooperation can enrich the work of the Security Council,” said Marcos, addressing the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

“Our success in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao in the southern Philippines is the centerpiece of these efforts,” he said, referring to the autonomous southern region in the archipelago nation.

A decades-long insurgency by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led to peace talks with the Philippine government and the signing by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in 2018, which was ratified in early 2019 and resulted in the formation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Bangsamoro is a region south of the Philippines mainland and home to nearly five million people, mostly Muslims.

Under the BARMM, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) was formed, which has its own 80-member parliament based in the capital, Cotabato.

The interim government of the BTA has been led by Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim since February 2019 whose term, along with that of parliament, was extended by three years up to 2025 by Marcos last month.

Urging support for the Philippines for its candidacy to the UN Security Council for the 2027-2028 term, Marcos said the Philippines “builds partnerships for peace and development through dialogue, including through inter-faith and inter-religious dialogue especially through” the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.