Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are hesitant to decommission their firearms as the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) remains in limbo in Congress, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal admitted Monday.
At the sidelines of the Senate joint committee hearing on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, Iqbal told reporters that the MILF rebels’ hesitation to lay down their arms is expected since they hold their weapons in high regard.
“That (hesitation) is expected. As we’ve been saying, decommissioning is the ultimate sacrifice on the MILF’s part. We know there has to be a Bangsamoro government but in order to [achieve] that, we must make the ultimate sacrifice of decommissioning our weapons and combatants,” he said.
Under the protocol on decommissioning signed by the government and MILF, the decommissioning will take place in four phases. Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. had said an estimated 35 percent of weapons will be decommissioned during the third phase, which will occur after the BBL has been ratified.
Although the MILF and government peace panels continue to meet regularly to evaluate the condition of the peace process, Iqbal said other aspects of the Annex on Normalization have been affected as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the BBL’s passage.
“The normalization process has so many tracks that are interlinked with each other. To move forward, one aspect has to be linked to another aspect,” he said.
“It’s our hope that the BBL [will be passed] soon so we won’t have any problem,” Iqbal added.
Other aspects
Aside from the decommissioning of MILF forces and weapons, the security aspect of the Annex on Normalization integral to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) also includes policing, redeployment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from or within the conflict-affected areas, and the disbanding of private armed groups.
Discussions on the proposed BBL have been stalled in both houses of Congress following the Mamasapano debacle that cost the lives of than 60 individuals, including 44 Special Action Force troopers and 17 MILF combatants.
Iqbal said the BBL’s passage is crucial to the normalization process since the FAB and Comprehensive Agreement to the Bangsamoro (CAB) are just political documents whose provisions cannot be implemented by the government.
“If the BBL is passed by Congress, that will become the law for the Bangsamoro. When that time [comes], everything will be normal for the Bangsamoro,” he said.
The MILF executive said the issue surrounding his use of aliases should not affect deliberations on the Bangsamoro bill because his decision to keep his real identity secret isn’t borne out of deception. He pointed out that he has been signing checks and other documents using the nom de guerre “Mohagher Iqbal” for years.
Asked if he will legalize that particular pseudonym once the proposed BBL is passed into law, Iqbal said: [I plan to legalize] not just my name, but my person, everything. Once the BBL is passed and implemented, everything will be on the basis on what is legal.”
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