THE LEADERSHIP of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has declared a “temporary halt” in engagement with the national government under the peace implementation mechanisms.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF vice chair and chairman of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel, made the revelation at the sidelines of the National Solidarity for Palestine and call for peace in the Middle East at Acacia Hotel in Davao City, on Friday, April 10.
“Temporary halt is the right term for that,” Iqbal told reporters when asked about the position of MILF on the Bangsamoro peace process.
Iqbal stressed that the only stance of the group “so far” is for the national government to appoint a full-fledged chief negotiator.
“How can we talk to the other side? Even in the implementation phase of the peace process, there are decisions there,” he said, noting the group cannot sit down with a negotiator on the part of the government.
“Especially the chief negotiator who does have the authority to commit, it is very important for the two sides to really commit to whatever decisions that we’d like to commit, so it’s a temporary halt,” he stressed.
To note, on the 12th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the MILF has announced a temporary pause in several aspects of the peace implementation mechanisms, citing the lack of a designated chairperson for the government’s peace panel.
In an official statement dated March 12, 2026, MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim expressed “much regret” that the MILF Peace Implementing Panel now “stands alone in this dance that was meant for two”.
The group stated that the recent resignation of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) Peace Implementing Panel Chairman has created a “gaping hole” in the implementation process at a “very crucial stage in the transition period”.
The MILF emphasized that they cannot negotiate and engage with a “headless counterpart.”
It said that peace architecture established by the Parties is built on principles of “jointness, bilateral actions, and mutuality”, and peace implementation mechanisms were designed to function through officially mandated representatives of both Parties.
“In the absence of a formally designated chair of the GPH Peace Implementing Panel, the MiLF finds itself unable to proceed with substantive engagements that require formal commitments and authoritative decisions,” the group stressed.
