MILF General Staff Brigade Commander Garex Aguil Shariff. Lerio Bompat, ABS-CBN News
COTABATO CITY — For Garex Aguil Shariff, the Bangsamoro struggle for self-determination is not just part of history.
It is something he lived through.
Shariff, now a brigade commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) General Staff, was only a few months old when his family experienced the violence of armed conflict in Datu Piang, Maguindanao in 1975.
He recalled how his mother would hide him inside a tunnel during the day to protect him from the fighting.
"Napakahirap din 'yung naging karanasan namin. 'Yung mga magulang ko ganoon din. Grabe 'yung hirap na dinanas nila sa giyera," Shariff said.
"Sa salaysay ng mga magulang ko maliit pa ako noon, siguro mga 4 months or 6 months pa ako noon. Ipinapasok ako ng nanay ko sa tunnel pag-araw napipilitan siya lumalabas kasi namumutla ako doon sa ilalim ng tunnel."
The conflict also disrupted his education. "Putol-putol kaya ako malaki na ako hindi pa ako naka-graduate ng Grade 6," he said.
At around 20 years old, Shariff joined the armed struggle and later underwent military training at Camp Abubakar, once the MILF’s main stronghold.
Decades later, Shariff is witnessing a different phase of the Bangsamoro struggle — one that is now being carried through politics and elections.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is set to hold its first regular parliamentary elections, a historic exercise that will test whether decades of conflict, negotiations and demands for self-determination can be translated into effective democratic governance.
For Shariff, the gains of peace are already visible in his own family.
His eldest child was able to study civil engineering, an opportunity he believes would have been difficult had the conflict continued.
"Kung hindi siguro nagkaroon ng kapayapaan baka hindi na nakapag-aral 'yung mga anak ko. Pero dahil sa nagkaroon tayo ng gobyerno, nagkaroon tayo ng kapayapaan, nabigyan ng chance 'yung mga anak ko na makapag-aral sila,” he said.
DECADESLONG ROAD TO AUTONOMY
Lawyer and historian Michael Mastura, former member MILF Peace Negotiating Panel. Lerio Bompat, ABS-CBN News
The Bangsamoro political transition traces its roots to decades of armed struggle and peace negotiations.
In 1976, the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front signed the Tripoli Agreement, one of the earliest major efforts to establish autonomy in Muslim Mindanao.
But divisions later emerged within the Moro revolutionary movement.
Lawyer and historian Michael Mastura, one of the early members of the MILF peace negotiating panel, said disagreements over leadership and political direction eventually contributed to the split between the MNLF and the group that would later become the MILF.
The 1987 Constitution later provided for the creation of an autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or ARMM, was eventually established in 1989. But criticism over its effectiveness persisted.
Mastura said the push for a ministerial or parliamentary form of government was partly aimed at moving away from a system centered on a powerful regional governor.
"The idea was to be distinct again in terms of pamumuno. Now, 'yung regional governor is very attuned to a presidential system, one-man rule. So, they realized that kung meron 'yung council, dapat collective, consensual 'yung decision-making," he said.
Years of negotiations between the government and the MILF would follow, interrupted by renewed fighting and political setbacks.
In 2008, the proposed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain collapsed after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional.
Negotiations later resumed.
In 2012, the government and MILF signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
Two years later, they signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which became the foundation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
The law was ratified through a plebiscite in 2019, paving the way for the creation of BARMM and the abolition of the ARMM.
NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM
The Bangsamoro Government Center. Lerio Bompat, ABS-CBN News
BARMM operates under a parliamentary system, making it different from ordinary regional and local governments in the Philippines.
Its 80-member parliament is composed of 40 party representatives, 32 district representatives and eight sectoral representatives.
Unlike in a presidential or gubernatorial system, voters do not directly elect the chief minister.
Members of parliament choose the chief minister, who leads the regional government and forms the Cabinet.
"In a parliamentary system, iba kasi — the chief minister will lead a Cabinet and will be responsible to the assembly parliament, then parliament hindi ma-appoint ng presidente 'yung chief minister," Mastura said.
He said the system was meant to introduce reforms that the old ARMM structure was unable to fully achieve.
“If we continued under the presidential system… feeling nila yung ARMM, it’s a binaba lang yung anong practice sa national, binaba lang dito sa region. So, there is no element of reform,” he added.
BARMM currently covers Basilan, except Isabela City; Lanao del Sur; Maguindanao del Norte; Maguindanao del Sur; Tawi-Tawi; Cotabato City; and the Special Geographic Area.
Sulu is no longer part of the region following a Supreme Court ruling recognizing the province’s rejection of the Bangsamoro Organic Law during the 2019 plebiscite.
READ: Adiong says upcoming Bangsamoro polls 'fruit' of yearslong negotiations
MILF, POLITICAL CLANS AND THE ELECTION TEST
The parliamentary election will determine more than who gets seats in the Bangsamoro Parliament.
It will also test whether the new political system can strengthen party-based and platform-driven politics in a region where established political families and local alliances have long wielded significant influence.
The MILF meanwhile is undergoing its own political transition — from an armed revolutionary movement into an organization operating within democratic institutions.
For Mastura, the success of the system will not depend solely on who wins. Strong institutions, particularly the bureaucracy, will also be critical.
"Bureaucracy. A parliament cannot work without a stable bureaucracy," he said.
"Kahit pasukin pa, kung stable ang bureaucracy, then maayos 'yan. Hindi 'yan maging experiment na sino-sino lang ang magpatakbo."
READ: Marcos vows to protect Bangsamoro voters' right to cast ballot ‘freely, without fear’
'PEACE PROCESS NOT YET OVER'
Former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita "Ging" Deles said the parliamentary election is an important political milestone, but warned that other commitments under the peace agreement remain unfinished.
"We have reached this point. A very important political milestone. Pero of course, we remain concerned na several other parts of the agreement hindi pa, hindi pa natatapos," Deles said.
"Hindi puwedeng political track lang yung umabot."
Deles also stressed the importance of ensuring that the results reflect the genuine will of Bangsamoro voters.
"Every election, the concern is that… ang kalabasan 'yung totoong true will of the people — yes, in a free, fair, with results that are credible," she said.
Former government chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said autonomy ultimately means giving the Bangsamoro greater control over its political future.
"'Yung significance talaga ng autonomy talagang may exercise nila, hindi na 'yung national government ang nagdidikta kung sino 'yung gobernador o kaya masyado rin silang nakatali," Ferrer said.
"'Yung development na dapat mangyari para talagang they will really gain control of their future."
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