1,031 MILF members decommissioned
THE decommissioning process and other security measures involving the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants, firearms, and ammunition entered the fourth and final phase despite the delays during the pandemic and other challenges.
Appearing before the public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation chaired by Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (Opapru) on Tuesday, February 20, said that the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) is expected to complete the decommissioning process before the first election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2025.
Galvez earlier announceTd that 1,031 combatants have been decommissioned which completed the first, second and third phases for 26,000 MILF members.
“This year and the coming year, another 14,000 or 35 percent will be decommissioned,” the Opapru chief said.
Galvez reported that all the decommissioned firearms and ammunition of former MILF rebels are accounted for under the supervision of the joint team of the government, MILF and IDB.
The process of decommissioning is among the key provisions of the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement between the government and MILF signed in 2014.
This step will serve as an initial key in helping former MILF-BIAF combatants successfully transition to civilian life.
Based on the CAB, the IDB is composed of international and local experts that oversee the decommissioning process of MILF fighters and weapons so that these are put beyond use.
Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos filed Senate Resolution 321 to investigate the matter, with “the end goal of accelerating the implementation of the Normalization Track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro to finally bring lasting peace.”
Senator Marcos and Sen. Rafael “Raffy” Tulfo expressed serious concerns about some aspects of the decommissioning — specifically the wide discrepancy between the number of combatants against the weapons, as well as the transparency in the use of public funds spent in the provision of socioeconomic assistance to the former rebels.
Meanwhile, Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said the challenge to the government, IDB, and MILF is to ensure that the guns owned by the rebel returnees are licensed.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Dela Rosa said he found nothing wrong in buying guns as long as it is within the law.
“A Mindanaoan has a right to buy a gun just like any Filipino as long as the procurement is within the bounds of the law or in line with the Comprehensive Firearm Law. What’s important is that firearms are legal and recorded,” Dela Rosa said in a mix of Filipino and English.
In the next hearing, the Estrada-led panel will convene in an executive session to allow Opapru and IDB to present the list of the decommissioned MILF combatants and the weapons and ammunition now in the hands of the joint team of the government.