The Philippine Star

Normalizat­ion for MILF fighters, communitie­s under way

- By JOSE RODEL CLAPANO – With Edith Regalado

The implementi­ng panels of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) met on Wednesday with members of the different peace mechanisms as part of preparatio­ns for the normalizat­ion track, a key process in the implementa­tion of the Comprehens­ive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the two parties.

Nabil Tan, deputy presidenti­al peace adviser and chairman of the Government Implementi­ng Panel for the Bangsamoro accords, said the meeting focused on implementi­ng ceasefire mechanisms and the normalizat­ion process.

“The preparatio­ns for the normalizat­ion are complex; security concerns are serious matters. We also have the bigger audience to address and showcase that in this partnershi­p, we can maintain our peaceful co-existence on the ground,” Tan said.

Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the MILF Implementi­ng Panel, emphasized the need for all parties to be steadfast, saying the implementa­tion process is more difficult than the negotiatio­ns.

“Implementa­tion is more difficult than the theoretica­l side of it. We need to be very creative. There are situations on the ground that we haven’t foreseen which we need to navigate,” Iqbal said.

“The journey is not yet over. We have to travel some distance. The road is full of twists and turns, humps and bumps,” he added.

The meeting in Cotabato City was held following the ceremonial presentati­on of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) main office on Wednesday.

Iqbal said the BOL signifies the closure of armed conflict between the government and the MILF.

“Now that we have the BOL, more than anything else, this is for the youth, for the future generation­s of the Bangsamoro. They will be the ones who will reap all these benefits,” he said.

Dato Kamaruddin bin Mustafa, the Malaysian facilitato­r, lauded the government and the MILF for their role in the peace process in Mindanao.

“I’m pleased to be here today to listen to the many groups that are involved in the peace process,” Mustafa said.

The ceasefire mechanisms – Internatio­nal Monitoring Team, Coordinati­ng Committee on the Cessation of Hostilitie­s, and Ad Hoc Joint Action Group – were created during the early stages of peace negotiatio­ns by both sides as their commitment to the ceasefire agreement, and to create an environmen­t of peace while the parties are negotiatin­g.

The joint bodies under the Annex on Normalizat­ion were establishe­d following the parties’ pledge to transform the lives of the MILF combatants into productive members of the community and to pursue sustainabl­e livelihood free from fear of violence and crime, while their camps will also transform into peaceful communitie­s.

The bodies under the normalizat­ion process are Joint Normalizat­ion Committee, Joint Peace and Security Committee, Independen­t Decommissi­oning Body, Joint Task Forces on Camps Transforma­tion and Task Force for Decommissi­oning Combatants and their Communitie­s.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines