From MindaNews (Jul 13, 2023): Full deactivation of 40,000 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters eyed in May 2025 (By BONG S. SARMIENTO)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 13 July)—The decommissioning of the 40,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front could be completed “before the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro region” in May 2025, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) announced.
MILF combatants at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte. MindaNews file photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO
OPAPRU Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and MILF chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, also the interim Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), made the projection during a July 4 meeting in Malacañang.
“During the meeting, the parties also agreed to complete the decommissioning process of the remaining combatants… It is projected for [the] decommissioning process to be completed before the first [parliamentary] election in the BARMM in 2025,” the OPAPRU said in a statement.
To date, at least 24,000 out of the 40,000 MILF combatants have successfully been decommissioned, the agency added.
“The decommissioning process is not only limited to the physical aspect of putting the firearms beyond use but more importantly is the changing of the mindset that requires a complete transformation process from being a combatant into a peaceful and productive civilian,” Galvez said.
The Independent Decommissioning Body oversees the decommissioning process. It is chaired by Turkey (represented by Ambassador Mehmet Suat Akgün). With him in the board are a representative each from Norway and Brunei, and two representatives each from the Philippine government and the MILF.
The BARMM will hold its first election for the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament in May 2025, simultaneous with the mid-term national and local elections.
The Bangsamoro region was scheduled to hold its first parliamentary election in May 2022 but this was reset to May 2025 by Republic Act 11593.
The postponement effectively extended the mandate of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the MILF-led body tasked to govern the interim Bangsamoro government, to June 30, 2025 when the first set of elected officials of the parliament shall have taken their oath of office.
The filing of certificates of candidacy for the May 12, 2025 mid-term and the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections will be on October 2024 or 15 months from now.
On July 1, the Philippine and the MILF peace implementing panels met for the first time under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who assumed power on June 30 last year.
During the meeting, both panels recognize the “urgency and centrality of the full implementation of the decommissioning program” through the delivery of socio-economic development packages for the combatants.
The panels agreed to create a socio-economic study committee that would discuss and recommend for the panels’ approval the components, implementation framework, and funding strategies for the socio-economic development packages for the decommissioned combatants and camps transformation.
Early this month, the BARMM Governors’ Caucus (BGC) had sought the completion of the decommissioning process “for peace and prosperity to reign in the Bangsamoro region.”
The BGC is composed of governors Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. of Lanao del Sur, Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu of Maguindanao del Sur, Abdusakur M. Tan of Sulu, Hadjiman S. Hataman-Salliman of Basilan and Yshmael “Mang” I. Sali of Tawi-Tawi.
The group made the appeal after meeting Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. in Manila on July 1 to discuss their peace and development initiatives in the Bangsamoro region.
In pushing for the full decommissioning of the MILF combatants, the BGC said they are hoping that the two Cabinet secretaries will “take into account their position and recommendations to promote peace and security” in BARMM leading to the October 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, and the mid-term and the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections in May 2025.
The BARMM was created after the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law in 2019.
The creation of a Bangsamoro autonomous region is the key component of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which the government and the MILF signed in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
Part of the implementation of the peace agreement is the normalization track, which includes the security component that deals with the decommissioning of the MILF combatants and their weapons, the disbandment of private armed groups, managing the number of small arms and light weapons throughout the BARMM, and the strict implementation of loose firearms, the OPAPRU said.
These are all being done simultaneously, it added. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
OPAPRU Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and MILF chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, also the interim Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), made the projection during a July 4 meeting in Malacañang.
“During the meeting, the parties also agreed to complete the decommissioning process of the remaining combatants… It is projected for [the] decommissioning process to be completed before the first [parliamentary] election in the BARMM in 2025,” the OPAPRU said in a statement.
To date, at least 24,000 out of the 40,000 MILF combatants have successfully been decommissioned, the agency added.
“The decommissioning process is not only limited to the physical aspect of putting the firearms beyond use but more importantly is the changing of the mindset that requires a complete transformation process from being a combatant into a peaceful and productive civilian,” Galvez said.
The Independent Decommissioning Body oversees the decommissioning process. It is chaired by Turkey (represented by Ambassador Mehmet Suat Akgün). With him in the board are a representative each from Norway and Brunei, and two representatives each from the Philippine government and the MILF.
The BARMM will hold its first election for the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament in May 2025, simultaneous with the mid-term national and local elections.
The Bangsamoro region was scheduled to hold its first parliamentary election in May 2022 but this was reset to May 2025 by Republic Act 11593.
The postponement effectively extended the mandate of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the MILF-led body tasked to govern the interim Bangsamoro government, to June 30, 2025 when the first set of elected officials of the parliament shall have taken their oath of office.
The filing of certificates of candidacy for the May 12, 2025 mid-term and the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections will be on October 2024 or 15 months from now.
On July 1, the Philippine and the MILF peace implementing panels met for the first time under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who assumed power on June 30 last year.
During the meeting, both panels recognize the “urgency and centrality of the full implementation of the decommissioning program” through the delivery of socio-economic development packages for the combatants.
The panels agreed to create a socio-economic study committee that would discuss and recommend for the panels’ approval the components, implementation framework, and funding strategies for the socio-economic development packages for the decommissioned combatants and camps transformation.
Early this month, the BARMM Governors’ Caucus (BGC) had sought the completion of the decommissioning process “for peace and prosperity to reign in the Bangsamoro region.”
The BGC is composed of governors Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. of Lanao del Sur, Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu of Maguindanao del Sur, Abdusakur M. Tan of Sulu, Hadjiman S. Hataman-Salliman of Basilan and Yshmael “Mang” I. Sali of Tawi-Tawi.
The group made the appeal after meeting Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. in Manila on July 1 to discuss their peace and development initiatives in the Bangsamoro region.
In pushing for the full decommissioning of the MILF combatants, the BGC said they are hoping that the two Cabinet secretaries will “take into account their position and recommendations to promote peace and security” in BARMM leading to the October 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, and the mid-term and the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary elections in May 2025.
The BARMM was created after the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law in 2019.
The creation of a Bangsamoro autonomous region is the key component of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which the government and the MILF signed in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
Part of the implementation of the peace agreement is the normalization track, which includes the security component that deals with the decommissioning of the MILF combatants and their weapons, the disbandment of private armed groups, managing the number of small arms and light weapons throughout the BARMM, and the strict implementation of loose firearms, the OPAPRU said.
These are all being done simultaneously, it added. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
https://www.mindanews.com/peace-process/2023/07/full-deactivation-of-40000-milf-fighters-eyed-in-may-2025/
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