PUT BEYOND USE In this 2019 photo taken in Maguindanao, police and other officials inspect firearms issued to former Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters before these weapons are deactivated. — BONG S. SARMIENTO
KORONADAL CITY — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is set to decommission starting on Monday 14,000 more combatants of its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) as part of its commitment to a 2014 peace deal with the government.
This comes almost two years after 12,000 MILF fighters and their weapons began to be deactivated in September 2019, presided by President Duterte.
Lt. Col. Mohammed Shalleh Ismail, deputy chief of staff of the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB), said the decommissioning ceremonies on Monday will start at 8 a.m. at the Old Provincial Capitol in Barangay Crossing Simuay, Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao province.
Ismail said the number of individuals who were allowed to enter the venue would be limited in compliance with the COVID-19 health protocols.
The decommissioning process is overseen by the IDB, which is currently chaired by Turkish Ambassador to the Philippines Ahmet Idem Akay, who is expected to preside over Monday’s rites.
Under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, decommissioning seeks to “put beyond use” the BIAF’s forces and weapons, and transition its fighters to “productive civilian life.”
Monday’s event will kick off the third phase of the BIAF’s decommissioning process, and involves 2,500 weapons to be put out of use.
As part of the peace deal with the government, the MILF has sought the decommissioning of 40,000 combatants. During the first phase, which was largely ceremonial, presided by then President Benigno Aquino III in 2015, 145 BIAF members and 75 high-powered weapons were deactivated.
Benefits due
In the second phase, 2,100 assorted weapons and more than 500 ammunition were turned over by former MILF combatants to the IDB. The second phase of the process was completed in March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The third phase of the decommissioning process was supposed to roll out last year had it not been hampered by the pandemic.
Each decommissioned BIAF member is set to receive P100,000 in cash assistance.
During a budget hearing last September, presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said the decommissioned combatants will also benefit from a socioeconomic development package to be rolled out for them and their communities.
Ariel Hernandez, cochair of the Joint Normalization Committee, said the rollout of the third phase of decommissioning is a positive step for the Bangsamoro peace process.
Apart from the Turkish ambassador, also expected to grace Monday’s rites are Undersecretary David Diciano and Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, chairs of the peace implementing panels of the government and the MILF, respectively.