Comparative Insights on the State of Implementation of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro

This brief report provides an overview of the current implementation status of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), negotiated between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in March 2014. The assessment below is based on the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) methodology for identifying provisions and the implementation of such provisions in comprehensive intrastate peace agreements negotiated between the government and rebel groups. Out of a possible 51 provisions in intrastate comprehensive peace agreements since 1989, the CAB contains 30. Out of these 30 provisions, 14 (46.67%) are fully implemented, 5 (16.67%) are at an intermediate stage of implementation, 9 (30%) have reached a minimum level of implementation, and 2 provisions (6.67) have yet to be initiated. As of the end of 2021, the CAB’s overall implementation rate stands at 70%. The other 32 CPAs for which the implementation process continued for the full 10 years had an average aggregate implementation rate of 74%, which is four percentage points above the CAB’s current implementation rate. Regarding CAB’s overall implementation, 30% of the implementation progress has yet to be achieved for security-related measures, as this brief identifies. The brief concludes by identifying areas in the Normalization Annex of the CAB that need greater attention from peace process actors and stakeholders to meet the rescheduled normalization timeline.