Only 1% of applicants from Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front accepted to PNP

From Rappler (Aug 14, 2023): Only 1% of applicants from Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front accepted to PNP (By FERDINANDH CABRERA)

Many of new policemen are children of former guerrillas who fought for Mindanao secession and have also joined the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Standing several meters back, proud parents and relatives witnessed the first batch of Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) members take their oath as members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the Bangsamoro region.

Many of them are children of former guerrillas who fought for Mindanao secession and have also joined the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF.

They took their oath as the next generation of police officers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Thursday, August 10, at Camp Salipada K. Pendatun, the PNP regional headquarters in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte.

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However, only 1% of the total 11,033 applicants reached the final selection process.

“They are considered the best of the best and the cream of the crop from the young generation of Bangsamoro police,” said Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. who came to witness the acceptance of the 102 men and women in the Bangsamoro police force from the ranks of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF.

Abalos said the oath-taking was the fruit of the peace agreement, which includes the recruitment of Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF members into the PNP.

“It feels great that the government has given us a chance to join the national police force. We are thankful to the President,” said Abdullah Lumambas, one of the recruits.

Former Moro Islamic Liberation Front combatant Abdulradjak Anao, now a sextuagenarian, said, “I wish I were still as young as they are. I dreamed of becoming a police officer, but I’m still thankful and happy for this opportunity.

Anao has two sons who applied, but only one passed the final selection process.

The recruitment was based on the National Police Commission’s (Napolcom) Resolution No. 2023-0380, which approved the recommendation of the PNP to allocate 400 slots in its 2023 recruitment program for the rank of patrolman and patrolwoman to former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF. In the end, only 102 were accepted.

Officials said many applicants were eliminated after undergoing rigorous police standard selection and screening processes, which included mental, physical, neurological, and drug tests.

Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) member Mohager Iqbal said the aim was to have a “quality and competent” police force in the BARMM, but asserted that the recruitment should continue until the 400 slots have all been filled up.

Iqbal said the BARMM regional government can even help and set aside funds to fill up the vacant slots.

The BARMM has an annual block grant of at least P85 billion from the national fund for the region’s development and implementation.

On April 7, 2022, the BARMM government and Napolcom signed an agreement allowing qualified Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF members to take the Special Qualifying Eligibility Examination (NSQEE), the prescribed eligibility for temporary appointment to the rank of patrolman/patrolwoman in the PNP for members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF.

Out of 11,033 examinees, 7,145, or 64.77%, of Moro Islamic Liberation Front and MNLF members successfully passed the NSQEE held in the cities of Cotabato and Lamitan on May 29, 2022.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/mindanao/pnp-applicants-milf-mnlf-august-2023/