Speech by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the Commemoration Ceremony for the 10th Anniversary of the Signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro

Speeches 29 April 2024

Thank you, Interior Secretary, Secretary Ben Abalos.

[Please, please, take your seats.]

Your excellencies; and the esteemed members of the diplomatic corps who have been some of the most committed partners for the development of peace here in Bangsamoro, and whose contribution to us arriving to this day cannot be overstated.

The Presidential Adviser for Peace Reconciliation and Unity, Secretary Charlie Galvez Jr.; the Special Assistant to the President, Secretary Anton Lagdameo, who paid— played— has been playing a special part in putting together and making— finding ways to make the Bangsamoro— for now the transition authority and eventually parliament ready for governance.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim; Minister Mohagher Iqbal, the chair of the MILF Peace Implementation Panel; Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof Macacua; our friends from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; my fellow workers in government; other distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen, assalamu alaikum.

Ten years ago, our nation took a decisive step, and that step reflected the indomitable desire of the Filipino people to achieve peace, inclusivity, and prosperity.

Today, I am one with the entire nation in commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro or the CAB.

The CAB is a testament to our collective vision for sustainable progress and harmony, not only within the Bangsamoro region and Mindanao, but all throughout the archipelago.

As we gather here today, we have earned the right to make this claim: the gains from 10 years of peace have undone many of the pains that have been caused by decades of war. [applause]

Kung dati, ito ay lugar ng labanan, ngayon lugar na ito ng kapayapaan. [applause]

Kung dati, dugo ang dumadanak dito, ngayon kaunlaran ang dumadaloy. [applause]

How were we able to transform a bulwark of resistance into a bastion of cooperation?

The answer is simple, dahil tinalikuran natin ang karahasan at piniling tahakin ang landas ng kapayapaan.

Niyakap ang kasunduang walang natalo, pero tao ang panalo. [applause]

Dahil iginalang natin at ipina-tupad ang CAB.

But peace, once again, I will state it once again, peace is neither found in the documents that we have exchanged, nor the elegant prose of our agreements.

Ang kapayapaan ay hindi lamang nakikita sa mga titik na talata ng mga kasunduan.

Wala sa mga talinhaga o mababangong salita kundi sa pagpapatupad sa totoong buhay.

We knew that peace to our people will be found in the businesses launched, in the jobs that were created, the schools, the new hospitals that were opened, the farms that were irrigated, the roads that will be constructed.

To us, there is only one peace, and that is when the bloody tally of war is replaced by the scoreboard of development.

That scoreboard shows that peace has won, and that the war is over.

Peace is totally achieved not when the sound of gunfire has ceased.

It is when the clamor for better lives has been met.

A peace agreement is only as good as the people and the parties who will implement it. Because brave may be those who wage wars, but braver are those who seek peace and who win that peace. [applause]

And the brave who won that peace with us are with us here today.

And so with this, I express my gratitude to all our peace partners coming from the MILF, the security sector, the various government agencies and local government units, [applause] the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, civil society groups, and the— of course, international community.

I also thank and recognize all the peace-loving citizens of the Bangsamoro region.

Your unyielding commitment lies at the very heart of our joint movement to achieve our shared aspiration of real, lasting, and sustainable peace and development.

Let us continue to work together and march in unison as we implement our whole-of-society approach in our mission to uplift the lives of the people of Bangsamoro.

As we embark on a new chapter towards reconciliation, which shall be bolstered by the fast-approaching start of the amnesty application by the National Amnesty Commission, I am once again conveying my commitment to the normalization of the Bangsamoro communities, especially to the MILF and the MNLF members. [applause]

Sinasabi ko nga, ang kapayapaan ay hindi nakakamit sa trabahong pangmadalian o paminsan-minsan lamang.

Kaya noong Pebrero, dumalo ako sa pag-pupulong ng Intergovernmental Relations Body, ang ika-anim na pagtatagpo sa ilalim ng aking Administrasyon.

Kasunod nito ang pagdalaw ko sa Basilan upang masaksihan ang decommissioning ng mga baril at armas.

Ito ay pag-papakita lamang na marami pa na gagawin para makamit na natin ang kapayapaan at kaunlaran na ating minimithi.

This is not an easy job. It is not the work of a day, it is not the work of a month, it is a work of a lifetime.

Ang mahalaga ay patuloy ang pag-uusap at pag-hahanap ng solusyon sa lahat ng hinaharap natin.

Because that is how peace is forged, through the honest exchange of ideas.

That is also how peace is made durable, by allowing all parties to speak with candor and openness.

Above all, peace is achieved by working relentlessly, the crusade for peace and the cause of development should not hinge on whims nor depend on where the political winds blow.

It requires a strong political will. And, as President, I will exercise that strong political will for the success of the Bangsamoro region. [applause]

Kailangan buo ang loob natin dito kasi marami pang trabahong naghihintay sa atin.

And I also take this opportunity to remind you to exercise your right to suffrage as you chart your political future in the forthcoming first BARMM elections in May 2025. [applause]

This is the fulfillment of your democratic right to realize and achieve meaningful autonomy, as is enshrined in the CAB. [applause]

I urge you, safeguard those rights, empower yourselves, take part in our shared task of nation-building. [applause]

Hindi lamang ako umaasa na malinis at payapa ang halalang ito, pero higit sa lahat, ang bawat kandidato ay tangan ang prinsipyo ng Bangsamoro— ang Bangsamoro Muna Bago Sarili. [applause]

At titindig sa adhikain na Better Bangsa Moro.

As your President, I reassure that you will have an honest, orderly, and credible conduct of the electoral process. [applause]

Let this also serve as a warning to those who may plan to threaten and derail this upcoming election, huwag nyo nang isipin ‘yan dahil ang kakalabanin na ninyo ay ang pamahalaan. [aaplause]

Instead, channel your energy to help build productive and thriving communities where citizens are offered wide livelihood opportunities and healthy living spaces.

So, as we forge ahead, let us dedicate our work to those who did not see the dawn of peace break.

We each lost generations of good men and women, caused unnecessary grief to their families.

We held back decades of shared growth, we needlessly lost innocent lives in the crossfire.

We do not consider our mission to have ended.

The peace may have been won, but now we must work together to secure that peace. [applause]

As we defend the gains we have achieved, we will be vigilant against the enemies of peace.

We will bear the full force of the state against terrorist elements.

To those who preach the discarded and debunked ideology of dismemberment, the people will reject your selfish agenda.

Sa ikasampung anibersarsyo sa paglagda ng CAB, ipinangako natin na hindi na tayo papayag na dadanas muli ng karahasan ang ating mga anak.

This is at the core of our policies towards transformative action that brings genuine change to the grassroots and this is the soul of the creation of the CAB. [applause]

Once again, our sincerest gratitude to all our partners in peace.

May the Almighty continue to guide us in every endeavor.

Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat! [applause]

Mabuhay ang BARMM! Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas! [applause]

—END—