ABOUT THE BOOK

This book is more than just the personal journey of the lead negotiator who signed on behalf of the Philippine government the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It also offers insights into the intricacies of a difficult political process, the ways and means by which it was approached, and how complicated issues were resolved in the midst of intermittent explosions of violence and vacillating public opinion. Practitioners, analysts, scholars, and advocates will find a good resource on a range of themes that confound all mediation and peace processes: the role of third parties, process design, inclusion of women and the minorities within minorities, ceasefires, and the combination of implementation, monitoring, and verification mechanisms that are crucial to sustaining the endeavor, building trust every step of the way, and the search for common ground. Last but not least, its descriptive accounts from one chapter to the next bring to life the fervor of those from all sides who invested their will and leadership, persisted with goodwill and integrity, and continued to believe that a just and comprehensive peace agreement must and can be reached.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Miriam Coronel Ferrer headed the government panel that signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the MILF in 2014. She is a retired professor of political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Among her published books are Region, Nation and Homeland, Valorization and Adaptation in the Bangsamoro and Cordillera Resistance Discourses (ISEAS, 2020) and Costly Wars, Elusive Peace, Collected Articles on the Peace Processes in the Philippines, 1990-2007 (UP Press, 2013). Awards received by Professor Ferrer include the 2023 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation’s award as Women in Peacebuilding Pioneer award, the 2015 Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security, the 2015 Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan Fr William F Masterson SJ Award, the 2014 United Nations Development Program N-Peace Award for Campaigning for Action, and the Gawad Lagablab Award for Peace Advocacy given by the Philippine Science High School Alumni Foundation. Co-founder of the Southeast Asian Women Peace Mediators, she remains active in peacebuilding and mediation in different parts of the world.