Independent decommissioning body convenes anew in anticipation of BBL passage

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 23): Independent decommissioning body convenes anew in anticipation of BBL passage

The Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB), the mechanism established by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiating panels and tasked to oversee the decommissioning of MILF weaponry and combatants reconvened last Tuesday, October 20, with a new chair and chief of staff.

Turkish Ambassador Mustafa Pulat is now the new Chairperson of the seven-man team, which includes two other foreign experts and four other local experts nominated by the GPH and the MILF panels.

Pulat succeeds Ambassador Haydar Berk who led the team that was instrumental in guaranteeing a smooth decommissioning of the initial 145 MILF combatants and 75 crew-served and high powered armaments last July.

Aside from Pulat, the IDB is also being reinforced by the appointment of Norway’s William Hovland as chief of staff. Hovland previously served as the Chief Operations Officer of the International Monitoring Team (IMT), another integral body that is part of the ceasefire mechanism between the government and the MILF.

He led the IMT in restoring the ceasefire that broke down on January 25 in Mamasapano and in conducting the IMT's own investigation on the incident.

Hovland is joined by three other Norwegians who will head the Joint Verification and Monitoring Teams (JVMTs) of the IDB who are taking turns in administering the weapons storage area of the decommissioned firearms inside Camp Iranun (Abubakar) in Barira, Maguindanao.

These three are Inger Grete, a retired female police officer, and Jan Stenvik and Asbjorn Lode, who have previously served in various peace-keeping capacities in different parts of the world.

Every JVMT has a member each from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces of the MILF. The JVMT supervises the Joint Peace and Security Teams which help secure the stored weapons.

“People on the ground are closely watching what is happening to the 145 initially decommissioned combatants. We are here, ready to assist, and willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure the success of the process,” shared Pulat during his team’s courtesy call on Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles and GPH peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer earlier today.

“The Government of the Republic of Turkey supports the efforts of the Philippine Government in bringing a lasting peace to Mindanao and thus, is committed to its work within the IDB. We believe that Ambassador Mustafa Pulat, as a qualified and able diplomat, will continue contributing to the work of the IDB,” said the Embassy of Turkey on Pulat’s assignment.

Prior to being IDB chief, Pulat served as Turkey’s Ambassador to the Abuja-Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013-2015) and as the country’s Consul General in Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.

Decommissioning is one of the important components of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed in 2014 by the government and the MILF.

It is under the bigger and broader normalization arrangement which seeks to return normalcy to communities affected by the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao.

However, the CAB dictates that the decommissioning process will be done gradually and in sync with identified milestones in the legislative timetable of the BBL.

Accordingly, the next phase of decommissioning which will involve 30 percent of the MILF’s combatants and weapons will occur after the BBL has been passed and ratified through a plebiscite.

The meeting was also attended by GPH peace panel members -- former Agriculture secretary Senen Bacani and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Secretary Yasmin Busran-Lao. Retired Lieutenant General Rey Ardo and Professor Mario Aguja, two of the local experts assigned with the IDB were also present.

The IDB is in charge of conducting inventory, verification, and validation of the MILF’s combatants and weapons as well as developing and implementing a schedule for the decommissioning. Planning, designing, and implementing of techniques that will put the decommissioned weapons beyond use are also among the tasks of the IDB.

“Decommissioning is a very critical part of the similarly critical normalization process. As you understand, there is still no BBL so you are joining us at a crucial and interesting time,” said Deles to Pulat. “We appreciate you getting on board at this time. It is our view that it is better to have systems and the architecture in place for decommissioning even before the basic law is passed rather than scramble later.”

Ferrer, meanwhile, stressed that she looks forward to seeing a “fully working IDB very soon.”

“Administratively, the OPAPP and the Panel can assist the IDB but the single, most important thing is for IDB to work closely with the MILF with regard a detailed verification of the MILF combatants.”

Hitting the ground running

With the arrival of Pulat, the IDB is expected to finalize work on Phase 1 of the decommissioning process such as the verification and validation of the list of weapons and combatants submitted by the MILF to the body.

“Phase 1 remains to be completed,” shared Ferrer to Pulat. “The validation of MILF combatants is a very vital step in ensuring an efficient decommissioning once the Bangsamoro Basic Law hurdles Congress."

“Decommissioning, as understood in the negotiated agreement, is both voluntary and a commitment on the part of the MILF. Meaning, for instance, the MILF would have to determine where or who to decommission first. Here, IDB’s working relationship with the MILF is vital,” added the chief peace negotiator.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=818582