The Foreign Service Institute, in partnership with the University of the Philippines, organized the forum entitled Piecing a Consensus for Peace: Comparative Perspectives on the Prospects of the Proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law held on 27 November 2014 at the GT-Toyota Hall of Wisdom in University of the Philippines Diliman.

The objective of the forum was to map the challenges encountered in drafting the Bangsamoro Basic Law by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and to learn from the experiences of other in successfully implementing similar peace arrangements.

The panel of speakers included Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Chair of the Committee on Local Government, Prof. Miriam Colonel-Ferrer, Chair of the GPH Peace Panel for talks with the MILF, Mr. Ade Petranto, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indonesian Embassy, and Mr. Thomas Phipps, Second Secretary for Political and Security of the British Embassy.

Prof. Colonel-Ferrer gave an overview of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the Bangsamoro Basic Law. She highlighted the constitutionality of the law and thoroughly discussed the different components that continue to stir confusion among various stakeholders.  For his part, Senator Marcos raised the issues and challenges regarding the Bangsamoro Basic Law during discussions in the Senate and consultations with stakeholders.

Mr. Thomas Phipps and Mr. Ade Petranto shared the experiences of their countries and lessons learned in dealing with and overcoming the challenges in implementing peace arrangements with Northern Ireland and Aceh, respectively.

The forum was attended by representatives from the government agencies and civil society organizations, media, and members of the academe.