Saturday, October 16, 2021

Former rebels now part of security team

From the Manila Times (Oct 16, 2021): Former rebels now part of security team (By Al Jacinto)



FORMER FOE A photo released by the military’s Western Mindanao Command shows some 15 former Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels receiving their blue berets and brassards and join 15 soldiers and policemen as part of the Joint Peace and Security Team deployed in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Tungawan town. CONRIBUTED PHOTO

Over a dozen former Muslim rebels are now part of a joint peace and security team deployed by the Philippine military in Tungawan town in the southern province of Zamboanga Sibugay where insurgents are actively operating.

This was confirmed on Thursday by Maj. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., chief of the Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City, following Tuesday's deployment ceremony.

He said
the former rebels, all fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), joined a team of seven army soldiers and eight policemen who will help patrol security forces in the town.


Col. Antonio John Divinagracia, deputy commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade, based in Zamboanga Sibugay's Ipil town, also said that the deployment of the security team in Tungawan, is part of the government's peace-building efforts.

"This is a great stride towards the attainment of our coveted peace not only in the Bangsamoro, but the entire Mindanao region," he said.

The MILF, a breakaway faction of the larger Moro National Liberation Front, signed a peace accord with Manila in 2014, and its chieftain Murad Ebrahim, who eventually became the Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which comprises the island-provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/10/16/news/regions/former-rebels-now-part-of-security-team/1818583

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