COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The former spokesman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Wednesday voiced doubts the group could fully comply with the decommissioning process.
Eid Kabalu said by phone that this early, many MILF fighters and commanders had rejected the idea of turning over their firearms under the decommissioning process, which is part of the normalization annex of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.
“It’s a serious issue. For them, they are not complete anymore without their guns. I don’t think MILF fighters will go for it,” Kabalu said.
On Jan. 29, the government and the MILF signed in Kuala Lumpur a 10-page implementing guidelines for the decommissioning of weapons and combatants of the rebel group.
“Standing by their commitment to achieve the objectives of the normalization process, the parties finalized and signed the Protocol on the Implementation of the Terms of Reference of the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB),”the panels said in a statement following the signing of the decommissioning protocol.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) said that under the guidelines, an IDB would conduct the “inventory, verification and validation of the members, arms and weapons of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF); develop and implement the schedule of decommissioning of BIAF members; plan, design and implement techniques and technologies for weapons collection or retrieval, transport, and storage and putting weapons beyond use in accordance with the agreements of the parties.”
“The IDB is also tasked to ensure that the parties comply with all the necessary steps and processes for decommissioning,” the Opapp said.
Under the guidelines, the decommissioning will be done in four phases wherein Phase 1 will be the ceremonial turning in of 75 high-powered weapons.
“By the time of the ratification of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, 30 percent of MILF weapons and combatants would have been decommissioned. Another 35 percent will follow under Phase 3 and the balance, under Phase 4,” the Opapp said.
Kabalu said because of feedback he got from the frontline, he didn’t know how the MILF leadership would be able to convince its entire force to yield their weapons.
“As to how they will implement it on the ground is another story,”he added.
Originally posted 11:37 AM | Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
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