MILF combatants to keep small guns in Bangsamoro

From the Manila Bulletin (Oct 28): MILF combatants to keep small guns in Bangsamoro

While the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will be bound by its peace accord with the government and will yield all its high-powered firearms when a new Bangsamoro political entity in Mindanao is established, its combatants will be allowed to keep small guns for their security.

This was pointed out by government peace panel chairperson Miriam Coronel-Ferrer in a recent forum on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) sponsored here by the Maguindanao provincial government in conjunction with an anti-criminality and disaster preparedness conference among civilian, police and military authorities.

Under the peace accord’s annex on normalization, the MILF combat force’s big firearms will be kept by an independent body which would include representatives of foreign entities as well as the rebel front and military hierarchies, Ferrer explained.

She said a formal ceremony for the initial turnover of MILF high powered guns will likely be conducted before the passage of the BBL by Congress early next year.

But she qualified that small firearms, such as handguns, may be retained by MILF members for personal security.

Police auxiliary services in the proposed region will also be allowed to carry hand guns.

Upon the passage of the law, a Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will be established immediately to replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and prepare for the BBL-prescribed creation of the Bangsamoro geo-political entity.

http://www.mb.com.ph/milf-combatants-to-keep-small-guns-in-bangsamoro/