LEADERS of feuding Moro groups in Barangay Matilac in Pigcawayan, Cotabato listen to representatives of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division explaining the need for them to forge a final peace compact. — PHILIPPINE STAR/JON FELIX M. UNSON
By Mark Joseph M. Sanchez
THE Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) are studying how locally brokered peace settlements in rido or clan feuds could be considered in criminal cases in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), saying convictions alone do not always end violence or deliver lasting justice.
“Our main objective here is to establish a system that recognizes that while talks are under way, legal accountability is not cast aside,” Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida said after the two agencies signed a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday creating a joint technical working group (TWG).
The panel will study how verified community-based peace settlements may be factored into criminal proceedings “without diminishing prosecutorial discretion or judicial independence,” according to the DoJ.
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