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Although this can be considered as an important symbolic act for the peace process there are still several challenges to face on the way to an autonomous Bangsamoro entity in the mainly Muslim south of the Philippines.

Benedikt Seemann, Country Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in the Philippines, travelled to Mindanao to talk to representatives of different political parties. Cahar Ibay, member of the Regional Legislative Assembly for the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines (CDP), expressed his concerns about the future of Muslim Mindanao if the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) would not be enacted before the national elections in May 2016. Although the BBL passed the committee in the House of Representatives in Congress it has not passed in the plenary yet. Also, the first chamber of Congress, the Senate, lacks unity on the issue of the BBL (which might still be amended by the Senate).

Together with the KAS-partner Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) Benedikt Seemann also met the leader of the military forces of the MILF, Sammy Al-Mansoor. Al-Mansoor is not only is responsible for the decommissioning of the military forces of the MILF but also for its transformation into a political organization guided by the principles of peace, democracy and human dignity. Recently, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) was accredited as a political party by COMELEC. If the BBL is enacted, UBJP will run in the first elections in Bangsamoro, said Al-Mansoor. Benedikt Seemann and IAG executive director Benedicto Bacani stressed that democratic structures and transparent decision-making within the young party are crucial for its future success.

The MILF, which had been fighting for the independence of Muslim Mindanao for years, stepped back from this claim in 2011. Instead, MILF and the Philippine government negotiated on an autonomous entity called Bangsamoro on the island of Mindanao. An integral part of the peace agreement is the incremental decommissioning of the military branch of the MILF, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.