The peace deal between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) 14 years ago today was a “missed opportunity” to settle political issues in Mindanao, campaigners say.

The agreement had the ability to "really strengthen the Bangsa Moro (Filipino Muslim nation) people around the concept of autonomy and progress,” said Claretian Father Angel Calvo, president of Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ).

“Part of the problem faced by the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) was that “there was no supervisory body to handle its implementation. The peace brokers just gave up after the agreement. And this is a lesson we need to learn,” he told ucanews.com.

Oblates of Mary Immaculate Father Eliseo Mercado, pres ident of Kusog Mindanao, said while the government is claiming partial compliance, the MNLF is “contesting” it.

“After 14 years the implementation of the deal, the programs, the institutionalization of the agreement through Republic Act 9054, have all been contested.”

RA9054 strengthens and expands the law creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Muslim leaders are not happy with the 1996 agreement. Amina Rasul, lead convenor of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID), said Muslims’ lives are worse since the FPA was signed.

"I am saddened by the situation of the Muslims of the Philippines who have not improved their conditions since the signing of the FPA in 1996. Instead, the conditions are worse,” Rasul said.

Ustadhz Abdulbaqi Abubakar, MNLF secretary general for Foreign Affairs, downplayed the significance of the agreement, saying "It is not worth celebrating. It has not done anything to improve the lives of the Bangsamoro people."

He said the ongoing review of the peace pact, through the Organization of the Islamic Conference based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, must continue to make it more responsive to the needs of the Moro people.

Peace negotiators led by Ambassador Manuel Yan and MNLF founding Chairman Professor Nur Misuari forged the deal in Indonesia after almost four years of hard bargaining. It was signed in Manila on Sept. 2, 1996.

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