ARMM governor: Peace panel has done its part

Government peace panel members led by chairperson Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, along w/ members of diplomatic community, arrive at decommissioning site. Photo from OPAPP Twitter account.

As 75 firearms were turned over by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Mujiv Hataman congratulated the peace panel for its work.

READ: MILF turns over ‘working’ guns–general

“The peace panel has done its part. The Bangsamoro will continue to do what is necessary, this decommissioning of arms not the least, in order to make our dream of lasting peace a reality,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

Hataman, together with Philippine peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and other officials, welcomed President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday morning at the Old Capitol of Maguindanao for the first phase of the decommissioning process, resulting from the peace pact between the government and the MILF.

“We will witness the Moro Islamic Liberation Front symbolically lay down their arms to show their commitment to establishing a lasting peace in Mindanao. This is the act of peace, the show of sincerity in the peace process, that we have all been waiting for from the MILF and the government,” Hataman said.

The weapons will be turned over to the Independent Decommissioning Body chaired by Haydar Berk, Turkey’s former ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Meanwhile, the former MILF fighters will be given P25,000 each in cash assistance, as well as government health cards.

Despite the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) pending in Congress, 55 high-powered rifles and 20 crew-served weapons were handed over by the MILF early Tuesday morning. It will be followed by the decommissioning of 145 MILF fighters.

The government peace panel has received flak for pushing for the passage of the BBL despite opposition from some lawmakers. It has been accused of promising too much at the expense of the government.

READ: Senate hits peace panel

But the ARMM governor said the BBL has “suffered much under the hands of those who have studied it, as well as those who have not.”

“It has been passed by the House Ad Hoc Committee, though it is now going through what might be called an obstacle race in the Senate. We pray that this race will soon end and the BBL be hailed as victorious.

Meanwhile, Peace Process Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles called the laying down of arms of the 145 fighters as having a “positive effect on the legislative process.”

“We are just awaiting the eventual passage of the BBL, the establishment of the Bangsamoro government, and the election of its leaders in order for the full decommissioning of the MILF to push through,” she said.

Under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which was signed in March last year, 30 percent of MILF combatants and weapons will be decommissioned once the BBL is enacted. This will be followed by another 35 percent after a plebiscite determining the composition of the Bangsamoro and the appointment of members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

The remaining 35 percent of MILF fighters will be decommissioned upon the establishment of the Bangsamoro government.

The Bangsamoro political entity, which will be created after the passage of the BBL, will replace the ARMM. KS