Decommissioning of MILF weapons ‘impossible’ — MNLF

From the Daily Tribune (Oct 6): Decommissioning of MILF weapons ‘impossible’ — MNLF

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) yesterday branded as “impossible” the decommissioning of the weapons of its breakaway group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as part of the normalization clause of its peace agreement with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

Lawyer Emmanuel Fontanilla, spokesman of the MNLF, said that decommissioning of firearms is not attainable in Bangsamoro culture.

According to Fontanilla, losing firearms in Muslim culture is like losing a wife and dignity.

“That’s impossible. It’s just like abducting one’s wife or destroying one’s dignity,” Fontanilla told The Tribune.

He stressed that the MNLF did not put decommissioning of firearms in its 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the Philippine government for the same reason.

“The MNLF will never agree as we have done (before),” he said.

Fontanilla said there is absolutely no provision in the 1996 FPA that called for the decommissioning of MNLF weapons.

The MILF said that the decommissioning of its weapons will come in four phases and would only be completed if and when all the commitments of the GRP under the peace agreement are accomplished, including the establishment of Bangsamoro Police.

As symbolic goodwill, the MILF said it will decommission 75 various firearms before the end of 2014 which will be considered as phase 1.

The MILF said that second phase will come upon the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law before the Congress and the ratification of the BBL in a plebiscite which will be marked by decommissioning of 30 percent of MILF weapons.

The third phase will cover 35 percent of MILF firearms which would be decommissioned upon establishment and operationalization of the Bangsamoro Police.

The fourth and final phase covering the remaining MILF weapons or about 30 percent will come two months prior to the signing of the Exit Agreement provided that the evaluation of the panels with the participation of the Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) and Facilitator that all the commitments of the parties have been completed.

The GRP and the MILF have organized the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) composed of Turkey as chairman, Norway as vice chairman, Brunei as member, and two members each from the GRP and MILF to oversee the decommissioning process.

The MILF admitted that decommissioning is a very emotional and sensitive issue and considered it as an ultimate sacrifice in exchange for peace and settlement of the centuries-old conflict in Mindanao.

The MILF, however, clarified that decommissioning does not mean surrendering of weapons to the government.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/decommissioning-of-milf-weapons-impossible-mnlf