The visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the Muslim Autonomous Region is significant in more ways than one.

While it coincided with the opening of the session of the interim regional parliament, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, observers saw it as an auspicious sign that at last, the peace process and the problems of the nascent autonomous government are now in the agenda of the national government.

For a while, there was an air of uncertainty sweeping Morolandia because of the lukewarm, if not tentative, deportment of Malacañang toward the region. There were grim scenarios concocted and peddled by naysayers about the possible fate of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, ranging from abolition to withdrawal of support by the national government. Now, there is optimism. The biggest winners are the leaders of BARMM whose political stock has doubled after being frayed by their decision to support a losing presidential candidate. It augurs well for a healthy relationship between the national and regional governments.

In one single act, the President has disproved claims of gadflies that his administration is tentative in its support for the quest for peace in Morolandia. Perhaps, Malacañang realized that since the establishment of BARMM, there is relative peace in the area as a dividend of the peace process.

The fly in the ointment though is the recent ambush of a police station commander in Maguindanao by suspected rebels. But the plausible explanation being proffered by the uniformed forces was the alleged noncompliance by the police of the mechanism agreed upon by government and mujahideens, which calls for coordination in case of police operation in areas perceived to be a lair of dissidents. They reasoned out that for an operation to implement a warrant of arrest will be compromised if leaked to other people. This is a flash point in the relationship of the rebels and the government. The tragedy at Mamasapano of a botched police operation served as a lesson to the parties.

Weeks before the visit of the President, residents could not read clearly what the new administration has in store for the BARMM. There were telltale signs that BARMM's concerns are being relegated to the backburner, if not ignored.

The autonomous government and the peace process were not mentioned in the inaugural speech of the President nor was it in the bucket list of priorities highlighted in his State of the Nation Address. The first sign of engagement was the appointment of the 81-member of the Regional Parliament, which provided relief for the pessimist residents.