MILF to initially decommission1,800 to 2,100 weapons; 9K to 12K forces
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 January) – With the plebiscite results showing the certainty of ratification of RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the decommissioning of the weapons and combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) is also a certainty: immediately after ratification, it has to decommission 30% of its weapons and forces.
For now, BARMM is ARMM plus Cotabato City as 1.6M vote ‘yes,’ 246,185 vote...
DAVAO CITY (MIndaNews / 24 January) -- Although still unofficial until the proclamation by the National Board of Canvassers, final results of the January 21 plebiscite in the five-province, two-city Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela show RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has been ratified by an overwhelming majority in its proposed core territory: 1.6 million “yes” and 246,185 “no.”
Comelec: “clerical error” won’t affect vote results in Cotabato City; Mayor to file protest
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 January) -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said the discrepancies in statistical data indicated in the Certificate of Canvass (COC) on the number of registered voters and the number of those who actually voted in Cotabato City in the January 21 plebiscite were a “clerical error” that can be raised and corrected during the national canvass in Manila “without affecting the outcome of the plebiscite.”
But Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said they will file a protest before the Comelec citing irregularities and threats. She told MindaNews Wednesday morning that the results “did not reflect the true will of the people of Cotabato.”
Cotabato City votes ‘yes’ to inclusion in Bangsamoro autonomous region
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 22 January) -- At around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, chants of “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar” reverberated in different parts in...
Fear and the fight for Cotabato City’s 113,751 votes: empty streets, closed shops
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/ 21 January) -- Outside the Cotabato City Central Pilot School along Sinsuat Avenue on Monday, the roll-up doors of stalls on...
From bullets to ballots: MILF chair Murad votes in school where he learned to...
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 20 January) – On Monday, January 21, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), will...
Peace Adviser appeals for sobriety following grenade blast in Cotabato City
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 20 January ) – Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process has appealed for sobriety following the grenade explosion at the...
Bangsamoro plebiscite: will the BARMM be more than ARMM in territorial scope?
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 20 January) – A total of 2,165,316 registered voters in the five-province, two-city Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela will troop to the polls on Monday, January 21, while at least 600,000 voters in Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato will vote on February 6 to finally determine the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the new autonomous political entity that will replace the 28-year old ARMM.
Cardinal Quevedo optimistic it will be a ‘Yes’ to Bangsamoro
MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato (MindaNews / 20 January) -- As Christians and Muslims ate together at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santo Niño parish compound here on Sunday, retired Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, Mindanao’s first and only cardinal, fearlessly predicted that the “yes” votes will rule the plebiscite to ratify on Monday Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, also called the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), on Monday.
Transparency
As part of transparency efforts in the run-up to the January 21, 2019 plebiscite for the ratification of RA 11054 or the Organic Law...
Galvez: Ratify Bangsamoro law for a ‘brighter’ Mindanao
MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato (MindaNews / 19 January) -- A “bright new leaf awaits” Mindanao if RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro...
Peace in Mindanao
Supporters campaigning for a "yes" vote to ratify RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao gather inside...
Duterte: ‘yes’ to Bangsamoro ends 50-year armed struggle; begins “new chapter in our history”
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 18 January) – President Rodrigo Duterte made a final push Friday for a “yes” vote to ratify RA 11054 (Organic...
Dimaporo, Commander Bravo meet in MILF camp
LINAMON, Lanao del Norte (MindaNews / 14 January) – "As part of our mandate to bring peace by building relationships, I am happy to...
Murad: “Peace is life. No peace, no life.”
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 13 Jan) -- "Peace is life. No peace, no life. Peace to everyone," Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, chair of the...
67 villages in 7 North Cot towns will vote in Feb. 6 Bangsamoro plebiscite
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 13 Jan) – From 39 villages in six towns in North Cotabato that voted yes to inclusion in the Autonomous...
Duterte: PH “sailing on rough waters … unless we get through with this BOL”
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 08 January) – The Philippines is “sailing on rough waters… unless we get through with this BOL (Bangsamoro Organic Law).”...
Ecumenical group welcomes House’s call for resumption of GRP-NDFP peace talks
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ 25 December) – The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) on Tuesday said it welcomes House Resolution 2339 urging President Rodrigo Duterte...
From Darapanan to ARMM to BARMM: thousands rally for “Yes” to Bangsamoro
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 10 December) -- The campaign period for the plebiscite to ratify RA 11054 or the Bangsamoro law began Friday but...
Zubiri wants Galvez to replace Dureza; peace advocates say no to military Peace Adviser
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 04 December) -- A week after Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza resigned following President Rodrigo Duterte's firing of his two undersecretaries due to corruption, no successor has been appointed even as names have been floated, including retiring Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who hails from Bukidnon in Maguindanao said Galvez, who will be retiring by December 12, would be a "good replacement" for Dureza but peace advocates in Mindanao say the next Peace Adviser should not come from the military.
Bishops-Ulama Conference: Bangsamoro law is a “win-win” for peace
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 02 December) -- The Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is a "win-win proposition" for peace in Mindanao and the entire country as it addresses the historical injustices as well as the aspirations of the Moro people for an autonomous region and at the same time affirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines, the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) said.
Duterte fires OPAPP execs for corruption; Dureza resigns, takes “full responsibility”
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 November) -- President Rodrigo Duterte announced Tuesday night that he had accepted the resignation of his high school classmate,...
Clear vision needed to unite different sectors in the future Bangsamoro
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 18 November) -- A clear vision of the future Bangsamoro is needed to find a common ground where the Bangsamoro...
Duterte to meet with NDF leaders on possible resumption of peace talks
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 November) – President Rodrigo Duterte will meet with leaders of the National Democratic Front (NDF) after his Singapore and...
Davao Oriental Moro youth leader calls for support to ratify Bangsamoro law
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/11 November) – A Moro youth leader from Davao Oriental said that even as her province is not part of the proposed...
Peace stakeholders craft vision for Bangsamoro gov’t
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/03 November) – Peace stakeholders outside the proposed territory envision a Bangsamoro government that will "shun corruption and patronage politics" to...
Murad meets int’l donor community; presents state of the future BARMM
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 13 October) -- It was a "very historic conference," the representative of the Canadian Embassy said as the chair of...
Galvez declares end of war with MILF; MILF honors him as “Soldier of Peace”
CAMP DARAPANAN, Sultan Kudarat) -- With no firearms and no armed escorts, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez entered the Moro Islamic...
Duterte on Bangsamoro plebiscite: “I will campaign for the ‘yes'” vote
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 09 September) -- President Rodrigo Duterte has announced he would campaign for a "yes" vote in the January 21, 2019...
Iqbal says 2 of 3 BIFF factions OK MILF’s peace overtures; most radical rejects
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 05 September) -- A radical faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) Front has rejected overtures from...
Bangsamoro plebiscite set for January 21
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 04 Sept) -- The plebiscite to ratify RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim...
Duterte to residents in proposed Bangsamoro: discuss the law, vote in the plebiscite
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 06 August) -- President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged residents of the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)...
Moro people urged to register to ensure ratification of Bangsamoro law
CAMP DARAPANAN, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 29 July) -- Moro people of voting age should register with the Commission on Elections to boost...
5 alleged NPA members from Bukidnon surrender in Cordillera; now back in Bukidnon
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 July) -- Five alleged members of the New People's Army from Bukidnon -- aged 17 to 19 -- who...
Signed Bangsamoro law defective; Duterte has to sign anew
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews /29 July) -- The signing of RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (OLBARMM)...
2 soldiers hurt in landmine explosion in Davao City
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 July) – Two soldiers were injured after a landmine believed to have been planted by New People’s Army (NPA)...
Bangsamoro law signed July 27, exactly 10 years after MOA-AD was initialed
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 July) -- Signed Friday, July 27, not Thursday or earlier than Thursday.
Malacanang released late Friday afternoon copy of RA...
Did President Duterte sign the Bangsamoro law? And what is this other autonomy?
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 July) -- Did he or did he not sign the Bangsamoro law? And what is this other autonomy that...
Proposed Bangsamoro law ratified, awaits President Duterte’s signature
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 July) -- The House of Representatives on Tuesday ratified the report of the Bicameral Conference Committee on the final...
From ARMM to BARMM: ARMM’s elected in BTA; ARMM with BTC as “caretakers”
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 July) -- The elected officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will be able to complete their...
Murad: BARMM is “very much above ARMM”
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 22 July) -- Members of the Central Committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and commanders of its armed...
NDFP-Southern Mindanao calls localized peace talks a “surrender package”
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/16 July) – The National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Southern Mindanao Region (NDFP-SMR) has rejected the localized peace talks now...
CPP: “‘No’ is a no” to localized peace talks
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 July) --The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) expressed confidence that all New People’s Army (NPA) units on the...
MILF chair on bicam version of Bangsamoro law: “80 to 90% CAB-compliant”
QUEZON CITY (MindaNews / 14 July) -- The chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they will hold consultations with the Bangsamoro...
The Bangsamoro law: not fully CAB-compliant but “it’s ARMM plus definitely”
QUEZON CITY (MindaNews / 14 July) -- It may not fully comply with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement signed...
What makes the new Bangsamoro political entity “more than ARMM”?
QUEZON CITY (MindaNews / 14 July) -- Flashing the peace sign shortly after suspending the Day 3 session at 10:50 p.m. on Wednesday with...
Palace to issue EO on localized peace talks with Reds
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/13 July) – Malacañang will issue an executive order setting the guidelines for the localized peace talks that local government units may...
New Bangsamoro political entity: from ARMM to BARMM; from BBL to OLBARMM
ORTIGAS (MindaNews / 10 July) -- From ARMM to BARMM.
The new autonomous political entity that will replace the 28-year old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao...
Bangsamoro civil society groups gather at EDSA to push for CAB-compliant BBL
ORTIGAS (MindaNews / 10 July) -- An interfaith gathering dubbed “Pagtitipon sa EDSA para sa Bangsamoro” will be held Wednesday morning at the EDSA...
For Mayor Sara, Peace 911 instead of localized peace talks
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 07 July) -- Mayor Sara Duterte will focus on extending development programs in insurgency-affected areas of the city than pursue...