Proposed Resolution No. 519
AdoptedA Resolution Declaring January 24 as “Peace Day” in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to Be Celebrated During the Bangsamoro Foundation Week
Filed
Adopted as Resolution No. 439Now
Voted on and adopted by Parliament.
What this measure does
The proposal would have Parliament declare 24 January 'Peace Day' in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, to be celebrated during Bangsamoro Foundation Week. It names no office to receive a copy.
Filed on 19 February 2024 by Chief Minister Ahod B. Ebrahim and 17 other principal authors, with 23 co-authors. It was adopted as Resolution No. 439 on 26 February 2024.
Why it was proposed
The date comes from Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a peace group. On 24 January 2014 it brokered a civilian-led Mindanao Peace Agreement in General Santos City, signed by then Maguindanao Governor Esmael G. Mangudadatu and Archbishop-Emeritus Fernando Capalla of Davao. Mangudadatu proclaimed 24 January Peace Day in 2015, and the first HWPL peace monument went up in Buluan. The second was built at Camp Darapanan on 24 January 2016, where the MILF leadership also proclaimed the day, and the 10th at Cotabato State University on 27 January 2023. The proposal says the government-MILF peace panels have supported HWPL's campaign since 2015, attending its Global Peace Summit in South Korea and its 2017 celebration.
Who it affects
- Residents of the region
Who would implement it
- Bangsamoro ministries and offices organizing Foundation Week
Funding
No appropriation. The resolution appropriates nothing.
What changes if it becomes law
- Adopted as Resolution No. 439 on 26 February 2024, a week after filing.
- A commemorative declaration; it creates no holiday and no paid day off.
Raised during deliberations
No published record of the debate on this measure. Parliament’s journals cover sittings up to March 2023 only, and no committee report on it has been published.
What to notice
The day honors an agreement brokered by a single Seoul-registered NGO, not a government-MILF accord. Its companion, Proposed Resolution No. 520, filed the same day by the same authors, endorses the same group's Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War. The proposal does not mention the region's holidays law, Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 39.
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