2,000 MILF combatants set to register as voters

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections is set to hold a special voters’ registration at rebel stronghold Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao, on Saturday, March 7. 

Around 2000 Moro Islamic Liberation Front combatants – led by the MILF central committee – are expected to register as voters, said MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal. 

“It signifies that the MILF really is preparing for the transition, toward an engagement that is really democratic,” Iqbal said. 

“We are preparing for a scenario where we would no longer need the use of arms – from bullets to ballots, as they say,” he added. 

Although the MILF signed a peace deal with the government in 2014, the group maintains that it will continue to identify as a revolutionary organization until the accord is fully implemented. 

Under the peace deal, the MILF agreed to decommission its firearms in exchange for the creation of the Bangsamoro government, an enhanced autonomous region with more teeth than the current one. 

The decommissioning process would be staggered – a specific number of arms would be turned over as political commitments are achieved, including the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in Congress and the subsequent plebiscite. 

However, the passage of the BBL, which would serve as the legal basis for the new autonomous government, is in danger after the Mamasapano clash, where elite police troopers died in the hands of armed Muslim groups, including MILF members. The bill continues to face constitutional questions amid a tight deadline. 

Despite the setbacks, Iqbal said the MILF is stil hopeful that Congress would turn around once emotions over the clash – which killed 44 elite cops, 18 MILF combatants, and at least 3 civilians – have settled down.

In April 2014, the MILF formed the United Bangsamoro Justice Party in preparation of its foray into mainstream politics. 

MILF chair Murad Ebrahim said the party will only field candidates for regional posts, according to a Mindanews report. – Rappler.com