MILF resumes last phase to decommission ex-Moro fighters

MORO FIGHTERS NO MORE Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front wait for their turn to be called during the resumption of the delayed decommissioning process in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao del Sur on Aug. 3. —JEOFFREY MAITEM

SULTAN KUDARAT, MAGUINDANAO DEL SUR—Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim reiterated his support for the Marcos administration as the former Moro rebel group that he led resumed the surrender of weapons held by their combatants on Thursday, as part of the third phase of the decommissioning process agreed upon in a peace deal with the government.

“I can assure you that the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) will cooperate in every part of the peace process,” Ebrahim said, reiterating the commitment he made during the President’s State of the Nation Address in July.

Mohagher Iqbal, head of the MILF peace implementing panel and now education minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the turning in of the remaining weapons of former MILF combatants would have proceeded in July if not for the June 18 incident in Datu Paglas town of Maguindanao del Sur when seven of their members were killed in a combined police and military operation.

“The incident made us decide to put on hold the decommissioning of combatants. It was much needed for the healing process of the entire organization as well [as] the families of [the] slain combatants,” said Iqbal.

He said the seven people tagged by the police as members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway group of the MILF, were actually regular MILF members.

The remaining 1,301 former rebels decommissioned on Aug. 3 until Aug. 10 would complete the third-phase decommissioning of 12,699 fighters, involving the surrender of 2,450 weapons.

Cash incentives

Under the decommissioning process, each former combatant who hands over weapons is expected to receive some P120,000 in cash, including funds for education.

The process, which began in 2019, was supposed to have already been completed by now but the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the program.

In the process, the first phase covered 145 combatants and 75 weapons while the second phase included 12,000 guerillas with 2,000 weapons.

Earlier, the Department of National Defense estimated around 40,000 firearms to be in the hands of the former Moro fighters.

Ebrahim, the MILF chair, also told reporters their members could also get a job in the BARMM if they qualified.

“Mujahideen (MILF fighters) can be employed [between] salary grade 9 and below. That is part of the contribution of the government to ensure that their lives will be transformed,” he said.

Carlito Galvez Jr., head of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, said the completion of the decommissioning process would allow the transformation of the hometowns of the former fighters into thriving and bustling communities. INQ

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