The once warring forces are now allies for one purpose – to
maintain peace and order.
Even while the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) remains stalled in
Congress, selected personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's
Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (MILF-BIAF) graduated yesterday, Dec. 6, from
an 11-day training for the Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST) that started
on Nov. 25 at the Old Provincial Capitol in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
“[This training] shows the upscaled cooperation between the
government and the MILF,” said retired Major General Leo Cresente Ferrer during
the opening rites of the training.
Muhammad Nassif, in his statement read during the program,
said the training is part of the processes under the Normalization Annex of the
Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the government and the
MILF.
Nassif is the co-chair of the Joint Normalization Committee,
the body that coordinates the different normalization processes and mechanisms,
while Ferrer is a member of the said body.
"Ambassadors of Peace"
“Starting today, the GPH and the MILF will be delegating
some important tasks and responsibilities upon you. You will be ambassadors
[of] peace who will carry out the mission to restore peace and order so that
our people may live in harmony,” Joint Peace and Security Committee OIC
Co-Chairman Toks Ebrahim stressed to the trainees.
A total of 75 BIAF members, 35 AFP, and 40 PNP personnel are
part of the said training and will soon be deployed as members of JPSTs in
critical areas as agreed upon by both the government and the MILF.
The JPSTs are part of the transitional mechanisms that will
take key roles in the security aspect of the normalization process and will
primarily be concerned with transforming conflict-affected areas into peaceful
and sustainable communities.
“The JPSTs are composed of contingents from the AFP, the
PNP, and the BIAF who will help maintain peace and order and the stability of
the areas mutually identified by the GPH and the MILF. [They] will work to keep
the security situation on the ground stable particularly in specific areas with
high probability of armed conflict,” Joint Peace and Security Committee
Co-Chairman, PNP General Diosdado Ramos said.
“In short, [the JPST] will be the peacekeeper or security
balancer on the ground,” he added.
Among the responsibilities of the JPST are: tracking and
documenting private armed groups and other armed groups; helping reduce and
control loose or undocumented weapons; supporting the observance of the
ceasefire agreement; working on security arrangements for peace
process-connected personalities and events; and supporting dispute resolution
initiatives on the ground.
Teambuilding and Situational Approach
“The training will be different from other trainings because
it will focus more on teambuilding. Paano magkakaroon ng magandang samahan ang
dating magkagiyera na ngayon nagtutulungan para sa kapayapaan (How will forces
previously at war work together for peace)?” Ferrer emphasized.
He also said that the expected outcome of the training is to
develop camaraderie and fraternity among the participants.
The general added that the training will adopt a situational
approach based on actual, past cases that teams will solve to demonstrate the
efficiency and competence of the trainees on their functions as JPST members.
Ferrer clarified that the training curriculum and
instructors were mutually agreed upon by both training teams of the government
and the MILF.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=835177
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