31-07-2025
MILF defers decommissioning last 14,000 combatants; PH gov't 'dismayed'
The first batch of 225 former combatants of the MILF's Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) start undergoing a 30-day basic military training on Thursday, August 11, 2019 at the 602nd Brigade in Camp Lucero, Carmen, Cotabato. MARK NAVALES
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has suspended the decommissioning of its remaining combatants and weapons until the national government complies with the provisions of the Annex of Normalization, a component of the peace deal between the two parties in 2014.
According to a resolution by its central committee, the MILF will decommission its remaining 14,000 forces and 2,450 weapons "only upon the substantial compliance by the GPH (Government of the Philippines) in other tracks of normalization, including the provision of socio-economic package as agreed by the GPH and MILF Peace Implementing Panels to the 26,145 combatants."
The resolution was issued following a meeting on July 19 but was only made public on July 26. It was signed by MILF chairperson Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and MILF Secretary Muhammad Ameen.
The Annex of Normalization is integral to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the Philippine government and the MILF. It outlines the processes for ensuring human security and allowing communities in Bangsamoro to achieve their desired quality of life.
"Whereas, the track on decommissioning of MILF forces and weapons is very important in the normalization process, but so are the other tracks, i.e., policing, redeployment of troops and units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), disbandment of private armed groups (PAGS), socio-economic development, detection and clearance of unexploded ordinances, transitional justice and reconciliation, and the confidence building measures of camps transformation, and amnesty, pardon and other available processes to persons charged with or convicted of crimes connected to the armed conflict in Mindanao," the resolution read.
The MILF noted that while 26,145 MILF combatants have been decommissioned, "not a single one has successfully undergone 'transition to productive civilian life.'"
"Whereas, to be true to the letter and spirit of the Annex on Normalization, there should be some showing of substantial compliance of the socio-economic interventions for combatants who have been profiled for decommissioning before other combatants are made to undergo the initial steps towards decommissioning," the resolution read.
'Unfair and unjust'
For its part, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity's (OPAPRU) Office for Bangsamoro Transformation expressed dismay over MILF's decision to suspend the decommissioning of its combatants, adding that socioeconomic interventions were put in place.
"While the CAB was signed in 2014, the GPH and MILF Peace Implementing Panels only approved the Socioeconomic Package Framework for the MILF decommissioned combatants in February 2024. Despite this, major socioeconomic interventions have been implemented since 2015," said Presidential Assistant David Diciano in a statement.
"Aligned with the provision of the Annex on Normalization, socioeconomic interventions are based on the 'needs assessment' process under the DSWD. This means that the services provided are tailored to the specific needs of each of the decommissioned combatants," he added, referring to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
OPAPRU also said that the MILF Central Committee decided to repeatedly delay and eventually defer the final phase of the decommissioning process since 2022.
"It is unfair and unjust for those who are willing to undergo the decommissioning process, depriving them of their opportunity and right to be transformed into productive, peaceful citizens as envisioned in the CAB. The decision of the few should not deny the aspirations of the many," Diciano added.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s administration vowed in 2023 that it would fast-track the Normalization Program for former MILF combatants, their families, and communities.
The following year, Marcos reaffirmed his commitment to normalize communities in the Bangsamoro region through the amnesty application of former rebels. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
