Saturday, July 6, 2019

FALSE: MILF surrendered arms to gov't 'for the first time in 2019'

From Rappler (Jul 5, 2019): FALSE: MILF surrendered arms to gov't 'for the first time in 2019'

The decommissioning process first starts in 2015 as part of the agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government

Claim: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) turned over their firearms to the government for the first time in June 2019.

The website trendingbalita.online published a blog on June 23 with a title that reads: “Panoorin: 'Sa kauna-unahang Pagkakataon' 12,000 MILF Sumuko na sa Pamahalaan." (Watch: ‘For the first time,’ 12,000 MILF surrendered to the government.)


The basis of the claim is a video published by YouTube channel "Malacañang TV" which included images of supposed rebel groups with audio from a livestream of Radyo Pilipinas edited in.

This particular video was embedded in the blog post. The claim that this incident was the first time that the MILF ever surrendered firearms came from the title of the video that "Malacañang TV" uploaded.



A total of 4 Facebook pages and 25 Facebook groups, mostly pro-Duterte and pro-Marcos, reposted the claim. The pages were Duterte, atin to Pre, Bayan Ko Ph, DDS for LIFE, and Ang Pahina. The groups that got the most interactions were Marcos Loyalist, Tulfo Brothers Worldwide, and Alan Peter Cayetano Supporters International.

The posts within these channels generated a total of 1,900 shares, 20,500 reactions, and 1,700 comments.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: The decommissioning process of MILF rebels already started in 2015 as part of the agreement between the rebel group and the Philippine government. An international decommissioned body was in charge of overseeing the process.

Under the administration of former president Benigno Aquino III, the MILF and the government agreed in January 2014 that the rebel group would decommission its firearms in phases as part of the peace process. (READ: INFOGRAPHIC: The Bangsamoro peace deal at a glance)

The first phase took place in June 2015. Key government officials and MILF chairman Ebrahim Murad attended the ceremony on the decommissioning process in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao as part of the rebel group’s commitment to the peace deal.

A total of 55 high-powered and 20 crew-served weapons were deactivated during that time. Some 140 rebels of the 10,000-strong armed group also returned to normal life. (READ: MILF chief: Decommissioning 'deeply personal,' not just statistics)

In 2019, the second batch was set to be decommissioned with 12,000 former MILF troops, following the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The source of the claim, YouTube channel "Malacañang TV" is not an official YouTube channel of Malacañang, Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan told Rappler.

In its livestream on June 19, Radyo Pilipinas did not mention the phrase “sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon (for the first time)” in their report.

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/234184-false-milf-surrendered-arms-to-government-for-the-first-time-in-june-2019

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