145 members of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces will start to transition to productive civilian life today. Photo from OPAPP Twitter account
SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao – A busload of Moro combatants has arrived at the old Capitol grounds here for the formal turnover of weapons and decommissioning of fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The combatants are part of the 145 scheduled to be decommissioned in today’s rite set to be attended by the President Benigno Aquino III. Aquino was scheduled to arrive here at 10 a.m.
A total of 75 weapons, 50 of them high-powered firearms and 25 crew-served weapons, will be symbolically turned over but the actual number of weapons to be turned over to the independent body has not been disclosed.
Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the MILF panel in the peace talks with government, said turning over the weapons was a “very difficult” decision to make but the MILF agreed to it to show sincerity in the ongoing peace process.
He clarified that the decommissioning of MILF combatants was not tantamount to surrender but a part of the normalization process as agreed to during the peace talks.
“If you look at the (MILF) struggle, it’s about arming ourselves,” he said. “Now, it’s decommissioning. It’s a difficult decision to make but part of the overall and comprehensive peacemaking in Mindanao.”
He also said that the turnover of weapons was not a loss but a gain for MILF.
“It shows that MILF is a force that can be trusted because we comply with our agreement,” Iqbal said.