Symbolic decommissioning of MILF firearms set in January

From GMA News (Nov 28): Symbolic decommissioning of MILF firearms set in January

It's almost all systems go for the decommissioning of firearms of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), with a symbolic turnover scheduled in January, MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal said Friday.

The decommissioning is among the terms agreed upon by the MILF and the national government as reflected in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed on March 27, 2014 in the Malacañang.

At the sidelines of a forum on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Iqbal said the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) set up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last September has already come up with an inventory of firearms that need to be turned over by the MILF as well as guidelines in the decommissioning process.

“The members of the decomissioning body has already identified the numbers of firearms, and they have initially put up the documents that would provide the terms of reference for the decommissioning of the MILF combatants,” he said.

Iqbal, however, was quick to add that the decommissioning guidelines as well as the initial numbers of firearms identified by the IDB still need to be validated and finalized.

Initial batch

Despite this, Iqbal said the MILF is set to turnover an initial 75 firearms in late January of next year. He said 25 pieces of the firearms are high-powered, while the rest are medium-powered.

“This is part of our ultimate sacrifice, to really give peace,” Iqbal said, adding the symbolic turnover ceremony would most likely be held in Maguindanao.

Iqbal also stressed that the firearms to be intially turned over are serviceable and neither defective nor decrepit as claimed by some critics.

Confidential info

Iqbal refused to give a figure on the total number of firearms identified by the IDB, citing security reasons.

Presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Quintos-Deles also declined to give figures on the number of firearms identified by the IDB to be still in the possession of the MILF.

“Siyempre this is a high-security, highly-confidential information. It's not because of fears of the parties against each other, it's because there are other many elements that might take advantage of these numbers and this kind of information, so it really has to be undisclosed,” Deles said.

Deles said the firearms that will be turned over will be stored in the country, with the exact location to be finalized by the IDB.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/390258/news/nation/symbolic-decommissioning-of-milf-firearms-set-in-january