The Framework Agreement is the fruit of the 16-year long peace negotiation between the MILF and the GPH that now lays down the firm foundations of a just and enduring peace formula designed to address the root cause of the Bangsamoro Question. As such, the Framework Agreement, consonant with the right of the Bangsamoro people to self-determination, paves the way for the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) by a new institution of self-governance defined by the asymmetrical relationship between the Central Government and the Bangsamoro people through shared-sovereignty modes and concomitant transitional mechanisms that provide character, form and shape to the Bangsamoro Government envisaged by the Framework Agreement.
The forging of the Framework Agreement, however, does not mean the end of the struggle for it ushers in a new and more challenging stage. The peace ahead that the negotiation has made possible requires collective effort to build on the gains of the negotiation and to nurture them until finally justice and development reign in our homeland.
The MILF Central Committee, nonetheless, shares this fruit of the struggle with the Bangsamoro people and the indigenous communities of Mindanao and joins them in celebrating this milestone victory of peace and justice over war and continuous conflict.
The MILF Central Committee also expresses its full appreciation to His Excellency, President Benigno Aquino III, whose unflinching commitment tojustice and reforms has been amply manifested by the exercise of his resolute political will to resolve the Bangsamoro Question on the negotiating table.
The MILF Central Committee likewise conveys its gratitude to the Government of Malaysia under the leadership of His Excellency, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, for its consistent support to, and facilitation of, the peace negotiation, as well as to the members of the International Contact Group (ICG), both state and non-state, for their unfaltering help in ensuring that the peace negotiation achieves the desired result.
(SGD) Al Haj Murad Ebrahim
Chairman
Central Committee
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(October 7, 2012)
