Speech by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the 2026 NPCM Opening Ceremony, Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the GPH-MNLF 1996 FPA, and the 40th Anniversary of the GPH-CBA-CPLA 1986 Mount Data Peace Accord “Sipat”

Thank you to the Special Assistant to the President Secretary Anton Lagdameo. [Please take your seats.]

Papal Nuncio Charles John Brown III and the Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps; Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento and the other members of the Cabinet here present; Moro National Liberation Front Central Committee Minister and Chairperson Muslimin Sema; Moro National Liberation Front Peace Implementing Committee Chairperson Abulkarim Tan Misuari; fellow workers in government; ladies and gentlemen.

Good afternoon.

As we enter the “ber” months – as we refer to them – we also enter a season that reminds us of home, family, and togetherness.

This September, we also celebrate the National Peace Consciousness Month, reminding us that peace begins at home and extends to our communities. It is fitting, then, that we begin this month by ringing the Peace Bell.

Its sound prompts us that peace must echo in every promise that we keep, every hand that we extend, every bridge of understanding that we choose to build.

This year’s theme, “Kapayapaan Pagtibayin, Kaunlaran Paigtingin,” suggests that peace and progress are inseparable.

When there is peace, people can build homes, open businesses, send children to school, [and] plan for a future.

When there is trust, communities move forward.

This year, we likewise commemorate the 30th Anniversary of our 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

This is a landmark achievement forged through the aspirations, struggles, and sacrifices of our MNLF brothers and sisters, as well as our shared resolve to build a lasting peace.

We honor all who chose dialogue over division, all of those who worked, often quietly and patiently, to make peace a lived reality in Mindanao.

Our work is not yet finished. Three decades later, the Agreement remains as a continuing covenant to pursue justice, dignity, and self-determination through peaceful means.

In the coming days, we have another opportunity to show that the gains of peace can be strengthened through democratic institutions.

We are prepared for the first Parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on September 14.

Despite several postponements, the government never lost hope and remains fully committed to supporting this democratic exercise.

Be assured that this Administration will do everything within our mandate to ensure that the elections are safe, peaceful, and credible.

We will protect the right of every Bangsamoro voter to cast a ballot freely and without fear.

Let this election show that the future of the Bangsamoro is shaped by the people themselves: through your voices, your choices, and your hopes for your respective communities.

The same spirit guided the 1986 “Sipat,” or Mount Data Peace Accord with the Cordillera Bodong Administration-Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, whose 40th anniversary we also commemorate this year.

The Accord showed that even longstanding differences can be bridged through dialogue and a shared commitment to uplift our communities.

Earlier, we witnessed the signing of the Agreement on the Fulfillment of our 1986 Mt. Data Peace Accord with the CBA-CPLA. This marks the first peace agreement in our country’s history to be [meaningfully] fulfilled.

We will continue to support the Cordillera’s aspirations for autonomy and ensure that peace continues to translate into development and opportunity.

The milestones we commemorate today tell us that peace entails responsibility. It must be chosen, it must be lived, protected, and strengthened every single day.

Mga kababayan, lahat tayo ay may tungkulin upang mas mapatibay ang kapayapaan sa ating bansa.

Kapayapaan ang binhi ng kaunlaran. Nawa’y alagaan natin ito upang sama-sama nating anihin ang bunga ng isang mas maunlad na Pilipinas.

Let us always choose to be at peace with our fellow Filipinos. Just like any family, we may have different and disagreeing views.

However, we remain bound by something much stronger than our differences: we share one home, we share one future, we share one Filipino identity.

Ladies and gentlemen, today, we honor the peacebuilders who came before us. We must now carry on their work as the peacebuilders our children will remember.

We owe it to them, and to the generations yet to come, to pass on not the conflicts of the past, but the peace, unity, and hope that we chose to create together.

Maraming salamat!

Mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas! [applause]

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