by Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The first phase of the decommissioning of weapons and combatants of the Philippines' one time largest Muslim rebel group, is set to take place next week, officials said Thursday.
An independent body - led by Ambassador Haydar Berk from Turkey - is set to oversee the decommissioning process, along with four local experts.
In a joint statement emailed to Anadolu Agency, the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's respective peace panel chairs, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and Mohagher Iqbal, said they're scheduled to begin the process June 16.
“Phase 1 of the process will begin with the ceremonial turnover of 55 high-powered and 20 crew-serve weapons, and the decommissioning of 145 members of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces,” Coronel-Ferrer said.
Crew-serve weapons refer to weapon systems that require more than one individual for them to function at optimum efficiency, such as medium and heavy machine guns.
According to Coronel-Ferrer, President Benigno Aquino III will guest at the decommissioning event, along with lawmakers from the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“This is just the start of the decommissioning process, which the MILF has committed to undertake as a show of its sincerity to peace building,” she added.
She emphasized that this "shows the continued commitment of the parties to bring peace" even as the Bangsamoro Basic Law is still being deliberated in both chambers of Congress.
For his part, Iqbal described the decommissioning process as "very difficult" but noted that the MILF has committed to "undertake the ultimate sacrifice."
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles has noted that the decommissioning process is unprecedented, as it was not carried out during an earlier peace agreement with rebel outfit the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
"We've never had an armed organization that has been fighting with the government as an organization voluntarily—in partnership with the government—turn over weapons," Deles said, explaining that the peace accord with the MNLF only ushered in an integration of combatants with the armed forces and the police.
Gradual decommissioning is part of the Annex on Normalization signed by the MILF and the government in January 2014.
Firearms will be turned over to the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB), while decommissioned combatants will undergo a registration, verification, and validation process, after which they will be provided immediate cash assistance amounting to P25,000 ($551) and PhilHealth Cards.
Medium-to long-term socio economic interventions for the combatants will be handled by the Task Force on Decommissioned Combatants and Communities.
On March 27, 2014, the government and MILF peace panels signed the CAB (Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro) which serves as their final peace agreement after 17 long years of on-and-off and often intractable negotiations.
Both parties have admitted that the decommissioning is a difficult process as it involves disarming rebels after a decades-long insurgency.
Bangsamoro is the envisioned southern region on Mindanao island that is designed to replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao once the proposed basic law is passed in Congress.
In April, Ambassador Berk - who formerly served as Turkish representative to the North Atlantic Council (NATO) and is a current advisor to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs - was unanimously elected by member countries as the Director of the Centre for Security Cooperation (DCSC).
The member countries of the DCSC are Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ambassador Berk will take up his new position Oct. 2015.
