BARMM governors concerned over ‘obscurity’ in MILF fighters’ decommissioning

From Politiko Mindanao (Jul 6, 2023): BARMM governors concerned over ‘obscurity’ in MILF fighters’ decommissioning

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) governors have raised concern over the alleged “obscurity” in the decommissioning process of the 40,000 combatants of former rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The BARMM Governors’ Caucus (BGC)-Sulu Facebook page posted that there was a request from the regional governors to review the decommissioning process of the former MILF fighters during their recent meeting with some national government officials led by Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. and Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

It said that Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. brought up the issue, noting that BARMM has identified 40,000 combatants and 20 percent of them were reported to have been decommissioned already.

“However, no official list of these combatants (was) made known to them for ‘confidentiality reasons’,” the FB post said.

Maguindanao del Sur Governor Mariam Mangudadatu, who raised similar concern, reportedly said that because of the obscurity, the provincial local government units (LGUs) were “unable to keep track of them.”

“The funds being disbursed by the Government to these nameless decommissioned combatants (Php 100,000 per combatant + mobilization expenses) are already too exorbitant to ignore,” BGC-Sulu said.

Mangudadatu reportedly said that the quantity of firearms surrendered did not equate the number of the decommissioned combatants.

BGC-Sulu said Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan, for his part, reportedly suggested that Brigade commanders must be given the opportunity to voice out what is really happening on the ground.

The governors reportedly submitted their position paper on the matter to the DILG and DND officials.

BGC-Sulu said that Teodoro promised to visit the BARMM provinces “to have a more palpable and substantiated report” regarding the issues in the region.

https://mindanao.politics.com.ph/barmm-governors-concerned-over-obscurity-in-milf-fighters-decommissioning/