102 ex-Moro Islamic Liberation Front, MNLF fighters start police training in BARMM

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 28, 2023): 102 ex-Moro Islamic Liberation Front, MNLF fighters start police training in BARMM (By Edwin Fernandez)

POLICE TRAINING. At least 102 police recruits who are former Moro rebels are undergoing the Police Basic Recruit Course (PBRC) in Camp SK Pendatun, the home of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region police force in Parang, Maguindanao del Sur on Monday (Aug. 28, 2023). They belong to Bangsamoro PBRC Batch 2023-01 Class Alpha Bravo BAKAS-LIPI composed of 52 ex-Moro Islamic Liberation Front and 50 ex-MNLF members. (Photos from PRO-BARMM)

COTABATO CITY – At least 102 former Moro combatants began training Monday for their basic police course at the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Training Center (BARTC) at Camp Gen. S.K. Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao del Sur.

Colonel Ophelio Concina Jr., training center chief, said the trainees are former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), whose integration into the national police force is provided under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

Concina received the recruits during the reception rites for the 23-week Bangsamoro Police Basic Recruit Course (BPBRC) at the BARTC over the weekend.

The BPBRC Batch 2023-01 Class Alpha Bravo “BAKAS-LIPI” is composed of 52 members from Moro Islamic Liberation Front and 50 from MNLF of which 94 are men and eight are women.

The BOL, the charter of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), mandates the waiving of the age, height, and education attainment requirements to facilitate entry of MNLF and Moro Islamic Liberation Front members into the police force.

In keeping with the BOL, the National Police Commission has decreed those recruited from the MNLF and Moro Islamic Liberation Front ranks will be temporarily appointed patrolmen and patrolwomen, respectively.

The recruits are also given up to 15 years from entry into service to obtain a college degree for compliance with the educational standards of the Philippine National Police and become permanent members of the police force.

“Today is a very momentous day in our lives as Filipinos for after the decades-long fight between the MNLF, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the Philippine government, here we are working together,” Concina said in a statement.

The new police officers were also reminded that they did not join the police as a source of living. “This is a profession that anytime you must be ready to risk your lives,” Concina told the recruits.

The training center will teach the batch the essential functions of the police, foremost among which are the enforcement of the laws of the land, and the specific laws in BARMM.

Earlier this month, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos witnessed the oathtaking of new police recruits at Camp S.K. Pendatun, the headquarters of the BARMM police force.

The BARMM comprises the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi; and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1208640