WORKSHOP. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) base commanders attend an orientation workshop organized by Joint Normalization Committee (JNC) under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City from Dec. 8 to 9. The commanders gave recommendations on how to transform their areas into peaceful and progressive communities. (OPAPP photo)
DAVAO CITY – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) base commanders in Mindanao converged here to recommend how to transform their areas into peaceful and progressive communities.
In a two-day orientation workshop organized by the Joint Normalization Committee (JNC) under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), the MILF commanders identified priority areas where the JNC’s development interventions will focus on.
The JNC is the body tasked by the GPH and MILF Implementing Panels to carry out the four aspects of normalization which include the security aspect, socio-economic development program, confidence-building measures, and transitional justice and reconciliation.
The activity also oriented the base commanders on the initiatives carried out by the Joint Task Force on Camps Transformation (JTFCT), while giving them an opportunity to draw up initial work plans based on the actual needs of their communities.
The commanders who participated in the workshop represented 31 of the 32 MILF base commands situated throughout the island-region, which will be receiving assistance from the JNC through its various normalization mechanisms.
Key role of commanders in development
In his remarks during the orientation held at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City on Dec. 8-9, Eduard Guerra, JNC co-chairperson, highlighted the major contributions of the base commanders in the MILF’s struggle for self-determination, as he lauded them for traveling all the way from their areas and taking part in the workshop.
Guerra said the activity is to ensure that all the base commanders are properly informed and consulted, and have the capacity to play a more active role in the development of their respective communities.
“It will not be good if they (commanders) will be left behind. The planning should not be done by only those on top. Those on the ground should be involved,” he said.
Guerra underscored the need for the MILF commanders to enhance their leadership skills, as the decommissioning process under the normalization track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) goes into full swing.
“The [leadership] skills of a combatant will be very crucial. It is inherent in them. We need leadership to move people,” he said, adding that the base commanders must now make the transition from “guerilla commanders to economic managers.”
“Any corporation would need managers. Leadership is very important in any company,” Guerra said, pointing out that the base commanders need to undergo a paradigm shift and “transform their leadership.”
He also noted the importance of formulating development plans, especially if these are prepared to obtain funding and resource mobilization support from foreign donor agencies.
“It boils down to proper planning and consultation, especially now with the establishment of the Bangsamoro Trust Fund. A lot of foreign donors are willing to help us. If we don’t have plans, how will answer if they have questions?” Guerra said.
With the implementation of the normalization track, he said the MILF leadership “now has the funds to move and mobilize people. We are now moving from another phase of the struggle which is the economic phase”
He also cautioned the commanders to be “realistic” in the crafting of their development plans and programs, as these might have to undergo revisions during the implementation phase.
“You will be the ones to reap these benefits [of development]. You are the ones on the ground. So you must therefore be rational,” Guerra said.
No one is left behind
The base commands are located outside the six government-acknowledged MILF which will undergo the process of normalization.
JNC co-chair Ariel Hernandez said these base commands were originally not included in the CAB.
“Even if these base commands were not consciously put into the agreement (CAB), it has become the responsibility of the JNC to take on this important matter to ensure that no one is left behind in the development process,” Hernandez said.
He described this realization as an “epiphany” on the part of the JNC, as he noted the Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPSTs) that were established “is only part of a mechanism,” stressing that “the idea of community policing must come from the base commanders themselves.”
“The key will be on how to how we can transform the administrative and political officers of the MILF base commands as normalization champions,” Hernandez said, adding that the best way to do this is to capacitate them as spokespersons who can explain the normalization process.
He pointed out that the JNC has been actively engaging partners such as civil society, the international donor community and members of media.
However, he admitted that more attention must be given to the beneficiaries, which include the base commanders.
“We have to brief our primary beneficiaries so that the normalization process is clearly understood by everyone, especially those on the ground. They can help us better explain normalization concepts such as policing, security and others,” Hernandez said.
He was surprised how the base commanders conducted themselves during the workshop.
No one from the group voiced out a complaint, but instead offered suggestions on how they can contribute in uplifting the lives of their people.
“I thought they would be raising a lot of concerns. But what they did was to make recommendations. This demonstrated their willingness to be on board and be part of the process,” Hernandez said.
Decommissioning process on track
Meanwhile, the JNC co-chair reported that the second phase of the decommissioning of MILF-Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Front (BIAF) members has shifted to high gear, and has exceeded the JNC’s December 2019 target of 51 percent.
“To date, the 74 percent of the 12,000 MILF combatants and 73 percent of the 2,100 firearms are already decommissioned,” a development which Hernandez largely attributed to the “strong partnership and collaboration” between the JNC chairperson and the body’s members.
“We have over-performed in our decommissioning target. But what we really need to focus on is camps transformation. We will not only be looking for faces of individuals but communities. This will really give meaning to what we are doing - the transformation of communities,” he said.
In a separate statement, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said he was pleased with how the decommissioning phase is proceeding, especially that the JNC has exceeded its target for the year.
“This is a major indication that the decommissioning process is on track. The fact that we have gone beyond our initial targets is a testament of the GPH and Implementing Panel’s desire to sustain the momentum of the Bangsamoro process,” Galvez said.
This is the reason, Galvez said, why activities such as the orientation and planning workshop for MILF base commanders are very important, as these will send a strong signal that “we are now starting to reap the dividends of peace.”
Ways forward
At the end of the training workshop, Hernandez, together with the base commanders, signed a document outlining the “ways forward,” a list of major activities that are anticipated to jumpstart community development planning in their areas by 2020.
The activities include the formation of a core group; conduct of an area scoping/project briefing; courtesy calls with mayors and barangays councils; secondary data gathering; training of trainers; formulation of a community development plan; and data validation and write-up.
Normalization is the second track of the CAB which covers the decommissioning process. The first is the political track which paved the way for the passage and ratification of the BOL and the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim (BARMM).
The government and the MILF aim to complete the implementation of the normalization track with the signing of the Exit Agreement in 2022 which is scheduled before the term of President Duterte ends.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1088441
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