Disarming MILF no easy task
The most crucial part in any peace deal between the government and the rebels is the so-called decommissioning.
This generally means surrendering the arms of rebel combatants to a body agreed by both parties. All the terms agreed upon by the parties will go to waste if the rebels are not defanged and remain a threat to peace and security.
In the peace pact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), this is a cardinal undertaking.
Given the personality trait, behavioral patterns, social and cultural upbringing of Moros, this is not an easy task.
It is a cliché which has gained currency that Moros love their gun more than their wives — with apology to Moro wives. Guns have become a part of their body system that they feel naked and helpless without it. Take away their guns and you disrobe them of the sense of security and peace of mind. There are reasons for this frame of mind.
For the most part, they lived in an environment of unpeace. Their mindset has been molded by years of perceived campaigns to subjugate them, take away their ancestral lands, injustice and discrimination by the government. Their life had been defined by a social turmoil of armed confrontations between them and government forces. “Rido” or clan feud proliferates because of our flawed prosecutorial and justice system, which pushes them to personal vendetta. Guns have become props of Moro society because of the unregulated proliferation of loose firearms and private armies of political warlords.
Given this milieu, a Moro has to arm himself if only to deter harm to himself and his family. Will he easily give up his arms?
The government and the MILF had agreed on the creation of a seven-member Independent Decommissioning Body composed allegedly of experts from Turkey, Brunei and Norway and members from the Philippine government and the MILF. It will oversee the process of disarmament and demobilization of combatants.
The success of the decommissioning process is a test of the leadership mettle of the MILF.
The Interim Chief Minister of BARMM and chair of the
MILF, al-haj Murad Ibrahim, has publicly said that it has started the process of decommissioning with the listing of their combatants and their firearms, and the timeline for the phasing of the process is well on track until the exit agreement is signed.
There is reason to believe that MILF leaders are sincere in complying with their part of the bargain. Is this shared by the combatants? A rebel who has more than one firearm might surrender one of them leaving the rest with him or even surrender a homemade “paltik.”
Not a few are wary and pessimistic about the success of the process. They recall the 2013 Zamboanga City siege by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which killed around 200, injuring many and devastated a portion of the city. This happened despite a peace pact sealed in 1996 between the government and the MNLF, although some major stipulations remained unimplemented.
The MILF must show that they are different from the MNLF in terms of being true and faithful to their commitment to the government and the Filipino people. There are indications that they are a breed apart from the rebel commanders in the past who surrendered to then President Marcos vintage, rusty mechanically disabled Garands, carbines and homemade “paltik,” which made a mockery of the process. More often, in cahoots with some military officers on the ground, they pulled the leg of their superior in Manila and “recycled” the surrender of the same rebels to gain points for promotion. This has become a cottage industry of enterprising fake Moro rebels.
As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. It’s too painful for the rebels to part with their arms and the least the government can do is to be true to their commitment, especially on their integration to the AFP and PNP, and their rehabilitation to make them “productive members” of society.
The gravamen of the hitherto restlessness of MNLF is the non-compliance by government of some of the agreed on terms. This should not happen in its deal with MILF, else, the cycle of rebellion continues.
“There is reason to believe that MILF leaders are sincere in complying with their part of the bargain. Is this shared by the combatants?
“Guns have become a part of their body system that they feel naked and helpless without it. Take away their guns and you disrobe them of the sense of security and peace of mind.