MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 30 January) – From the battlefield to the basketball court.
At least 180 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are participating in the “Kambollayoka Basketball Friendship Games” as part of sustaining the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process and healing the wounds of war.
Top AFP and MILF leaders, who are also Members of Parliament (MP), graced the opening of the basketball league here on Sunday, January 29.
MP Basit “Jannati Mimbantas” Abas said the friendly basketball games aim to “solidify the brotherhood” between members of the MILF and the state security forces.
“Today, after all the efforts made over the years to sustain the gains of peace in Lanao del Norte, we are beginning to realize our dream of having a wave of lasting peace in our province and for the island of Mindanao,” said Abas, also the commander of the MILF Northeastern Mindanao Front.
He was thankful that the dialogues and the mechanisms in the Bangsamoro peace process have worked so far in creating a “climate of peace” in the area.
Decades ago, state security forces and MILF fighters were embroiled in a deadly armed conflict.
Former President Joseph Estrada even declared an all-out war against the MILF on March 21, 2001 that led to the capture of the front’s sprawling Camp Abubakar in the then undivided Maguindanao province.
The armed conflict stunted the growth of Maguindanao and the neighboring provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.
However, the government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in 2014, after 17 years of peace negotiations.
The CAB paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in January 2019. It replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
MP Abdullah Macapaar, popularly known as Commander Bravo of the MILF’s Northwestern Mindanao Front, said the basketball league showcases the camaraderie being enjoyed now by the former enemies following the signing of the Bangsamoro peace agreement.
“This is a good platform for the whole community to see that the AFP, the PNP and the MILF are united as one for peace and prosperity of Mindanao,” he said.
Aliyah Baniaga Adam, coordinator of “Singanin o Mindanao” or Hope for Mindanao, which is supported by the United States Institute of Peace, said that a few months ago, a concern about the “rocky relationship” between the security sector and MILF members in the area was brought up.
This led to the staging of the friendly basketball games, she added.
Brigadier General Yegor Barroquillo, Jr., newly installed 103rd Infantry “Haribon” Brigade commander, said the basketball games hope to sustain the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process.
“The main objective of this activity is to further enhance our partnership with the MILF. With that, we can avoid the necessary problems and complications in the near future,“ he said.
Barroquillo noted that the MILF has been helping the military in the fight against the Islamic State-aligned Dawlah Islamiya operating in the area.
In turn, the military agreed to help the MILF in settling rido or family feud in their area of responsibility, he added.
The 103rd Infantry Battalion and the Singanin o Mindanao collaborated to hold the basketball league, which will be held in the different parts of Lanao. (Marivic Omandam Davis / MindaNews)
