Decommissioning of 12,000 MILF members may be finished by Nov

By Teng Lauban Datu
Cotabato City Bureau Chief .

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Top military and police officials together with front and base commanders of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gathered here on Tuesday in a security and socio-economic forum to lay down the groundwork for the smooth implementation of the Normalization Track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez Jr. emphasized the main objective of the forum is to further strengthen the relationships among the parties for the successful implementation of the normalization track, which deals largely with the decommissioning of the MILF combatants and their weapons, and the transformation of their camps into peaceful communities.

“There should be a harmonious relationship among the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, and the BIAF. It should be mutually reinforcing,” he said.

He noted the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) had held a simulation exercise that showed that 250 to 300 MILF combatants and their weapons could be processed daily.

“The IDB gave an assurance that if they will start the verification, processing and validation in June, they can finish the decommissioning of the 12,000 MILF combatants by October or November,” Galvez said in a text message.

The 12,000 comprise 30 percent of the total 40,000 MILF members who will be decommissioned as key milestones are achieved, according to Galvez.

The ceremonial decommissioning of 145 combatants was completed in 2015 under former President Benigno Aquino III, following the signing of the CAB, the final peace deal signed by the government and the MILF a year earlier.

The IDB is chaired by Turkey and composed of a representative each from Norway and Brunei and four local experts jointly nominated by the government and the MILF.

Its main task is to verify, register and inventory the MILF fighters and their weapons.

“These combatants and their communities must be transformed… and the first to receive the true dividends of peace. If we can be successful in this respect, we would have the best argument that there is indeed value and hope in the peace process, contrary to what other groups believe in,” Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said in a speech.

In a press statement, Galvez asked the BIAF front and base commanders to work together with the state security forces to ensure order in their communities once the formal decommissioning process begins. (with reports from mindanews)