SONA 2025: PBBM's commitment to genuine, long-lasting peace

In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28, 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. underscored, “ang kapayapaan ang pundasyon ng Bagong Pilipinas, kaya’t patuloy natin itong pinapagtibay kasabay ng ating pag-unlad.”

- SECRETARY CARLITO G. GALVEZ, JR.

The President made this declaration in the early part of his SONA, which underscores the primordial importance that his administration has given to fostering peace and how this will be the key in sustaining the nation’s march toward progress.

It is in this context in which President Marcos laid out the national government’s approach to peacebuilding wherein peace and development must be pursued simultaneously. They are two sides of the same coin. One cannot be achieved without the other.

In his SONA, the President highlighted how the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are closely working together to maintain peace and security in the Bangsamoro.

He said: “Ang AFP, PNP, at mga dating rebelde ay nagkakaisa na sa pagpapanatili ng kaayusan at kapayapaan sa BARMM. Kaya naman mas mapayapa ang ating lipunan ngayon, mas protektado ang karapatang pantao, anuman ang edad, kasarian, kondisyon, o grupo.”

Under Joint Peace and Security Teams or JPSTs, contingents from the AFP, PNP and the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces are protecting communities from lawless elements while preventing the outbreak of violence while deescalating armed conflict.

JPSTs are considered an integral part of the security component of the Normalization Program, which aims to help former MILF combatants reintegrate to mainstream society as peaceful and productive individuals.

What is most remarkable is that just several years ago, government security forces and the MILF were on opposite sides of the battlefield. But now, they consider each other as brothers-in-arms as they patrol the region as a united peacekeeping force.

These JPSTs are expected to play a key role in ensuring the peaceful, orderly and credible conduct of the upcoming first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Regional Parliamentary elections scheduled on Oct. 13 of this year.