NEWS




28September
Government and MILF officials at the make-shift stage in Old Maguindanao Capitol ground

3rd phase of decommissioning of MILF-BIAF combatants resumes in Maguindanao

Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao– The 3rd phase of decommissioning of combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front -Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (MILF-BIAF) facilitated by the International Decommissioning Body (IDB) resumed Tuesday (September 27, 2022) here at the Old Maguindanao Provincial Capitol ground in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
In his message, Mohagher Iqbal, MILF peace panel chair and now BARMM education minister heaped praises anew on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his support of the Mindanao peace process and commitment to sustaining the gains of the undertaking.

“We thank President Marcos Jr. for his reaffirmation of support and commitment to the peace process, which he earlier demonstrated by upholding the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) where the  Bangsamoro Transition Authority shall be MILF-led,” Iqbal said.

“Indeed, not only is the peace process moving, but the BARMM is also moving,” he added.

An online report by Philippine News Agency (PNA) said that Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Carlito Galvez and BARMM chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim witnessed Phase 3 of the MILF decommissioning as facilitated by the International Decommissioning Body (IDB).

The IDB was created by the Government of the Philippines and MILF negotiating panels as part of the Annex on Normalization of the CAB and composed of representatives from the Governments of Turkey, Norway, the Kingdom of Brunei, and local experts nominated by the panels, said the PNA report.

Darwin Wee, OPAPRU’s communications and public affairs services director, said about 5,500 MILF combatants were decommissioned Tuesday.

The decommissioning was delayed at the height of the pandemic, which slowed down activities of the Mindanao peace process.

Accompanying the process are provisions of financial assistance, social entrepreneurship projects, and skills development training, and scholarship programs for combatants' children, among others.

The political part of the Mindanao peace process is the passage of the BOL in August 2018 and the creation of an expanded political entity now called BARMM.