Aquino witnesses symbolic gesture for peace

President Benigno Aquino III and Al-Hajj Murad Ibrahim witness the ceremonial turnover of weapons and decomissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants at Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on Tuesday. Also in photo Miriam Corone-Ferrer, government peace panel head and Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Secretary Ging Deles. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines—The Philippines’ largest Moro rebel group on Tuesday retired 145 fighters and handed over 75 firearms in a symbolic gesture to reinforce a stalled peace pact with the government.

President Aquino and Murad Ebrahim, leader of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), witnessed the handover of the weapons, including mortar and rocket launchers, near a rebel stronghold.

The 145 MILF fighters were the first batch of guerrillas who agreed to return to normal life with promises of government support.

An autonomy deal signed by the administration and the MILF last year was expected to be a major legacy of Aquino when his six-year term ends next year.

Aquino described the return of the Moro fighters to civilian life and the ceremonial turnover of the guns as a “solid testament and participation” of the MILF in the peace negotiations after four decades of secessionist war.

Chance to save lives

Speaking before the MILF leaders, the decommissioned Moro fighters and their families, Aquino urged everyone to “repay the trust” the MILF had shown.

One way, he said, was to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), adding that opposing the measure would deprive the Bangsamoro people of a chance for a better life they deserved.

This was the first time Aquino had publicly chided those opposed to the draft law, his priority measure.

“Let us repay the trust they have shown us. Let us strive to reach the point in which we can say: We truly gave them every opportunity to change their lives and to reach their dreams,” Aquino said in Filipino.

“But I must also say: If you are planning to make it difficult to pass the law, it is as if you have willfully deprived them of what should be theirs—guaranteeing that they will never lay down their arms and leave the conflict behind,” Aquino said.

Call to BBL foes

The President noted that the MILF went ahead with the ceremonial decommissioning ceremony even if the proposed BBL had not yet been passed and there was still no Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).

He said the MILF remains committed to putting down their weapons even if “they are fully aware of threats to their own safety brought about by private armed groups.”

Lawmakers and those who will vote in the plebiscite against the BBL should “remember this day,” Aquino said.

“Are we also going to seize from them the chance to live dignified and peaceful lives? Are we going to cling to baseless fears? Do we want to fall back on solutions that have already failed to rectify the problem … and deepened the wounds caused by a lack of trust?”

To abandon path of violence

Aquino observed the decommissioning process of the 145 rebels held in sweltering heat in an old, abandoned capitol.

He shook hands and spoke with some of the fighters as Murad in the presence of International Decommissioning Body (IDB) head, Ambassador Haydar Berk, and other officials.

Aquino also inspected the high-powered firearms and crew-served weapons that had been decommissioned.

In his speech, Aquino said the government was not “gambling our country’s fate by talking peace with the MILF.”

“Gambling is a matter left to chance … What we are witnessing today is a solid testament to the honest participation of the MILF in our peace talks and of their preparedness to abandon the path of violence,” Aquino said.

He said it was unfortunate that there were still lawmakers “advocating for a halt to the BBL” instead of thinking of how to improve it.

Transformation, not surrender

The proposed BBL suffered a setback in Congress after the Mamasapano debacle in January, when 44 Special Action Force troopers were killed in clashes with Moro guerrillas.

A busful of Moro guerrillas arrived at the old capitol grounds for the ceremonies.

The 75 firearms were turned over by the MILF to the IDB.

Putting into context the peace talks with the MILF, Aquino said: “We cannot deny that we have a debt to our brothers and sisters in the Bangsamoro.”

“Now, we have the chance to right the narrative of suffering together. This is our time. This is what our fallen countrymen fought for.”

Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the MILF peace panel, said the firearms decommissioning was a “very difficult” decision but it signified the rebel group’s sincerity.

He said it was not tantamount to surrender. “If you look at the struggle, it’s about arming ourselves,” he said. “Now, it’s decommissioning. It’s a difficult decision to make but it’s part of the peacemaking (process) in Mindanao.”

Iqbal said most people would think that firearms were the source of the MILF’s strength but in reality, the source of its strength was the love and faith of the Bangsamoro people.

Murad said the decommissioning process was never viewed as a surrender by the MILF.

“Today we begin the long walk to transformation, not surrender. (This is) the start of transformation of MILF from armed organization to political organization ready to serve the Bangsamoro people,” Murad said in his speech.

He said the decommissioning signaled the start of the MILF shift into self-governance.

In working condition

All the 75 firearms handed over by the MILF were “in working condition,” according to retired Army Gen. Rey Ardo, head of government’s decommissioning body.

Ardo said the firearms included 50-cal. Barret sniper rifles and mortars.

The weapons were handed over to a group of independent monitors, with the government in exchange granting about P25,000 each to 145 former combatants to begin a new life as farmers.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles said she was confident the start of the decommissioning process would have a “positive effect on the legislative process” pertaining to the BBL.

“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,” Deles said.

Under a bilateral agreement, the full decommissioning process would take place with the passage of the BBL. Under it, the MILF would deactivate 30 percent of its combatants and their weapons turned over.

The remaining forces and weapons will be decommissioned when the Bangsamoro government starts functioning.

The United States and several Asian and European countries have backed the peace deal as a way to prevent impoverished rebel strongholds from turning into breeding grounds of Islamic extremists.

At least four smaller and more hardline armed groups, including the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, are not involved in the peace talks and have continued sporadic attacks, including kidnappings in the South and neighboring Malaysia.

More than 120,000 combatants and civilians have died in the rebellion that has stalled progress in many resource-rich areas of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s South, home to about 5 million Muslim Filipinos.

The MILF agreed last year to disband its guerrilla force and surrender 15,000 weapons in exchange for control of their economy, culture and politics.–With reports from Germelina Lacorte, Edwin Fernandez, Charlie Señase and Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao; and wires

RELATED STORIES

MILF: No 2nd phase of arms, forces decommissioning if BBL is not approved

MILF turns over ‘working’ guns–general