Panels formed to prepare MILF rebels’ shift to civilian life

MANILA, Philippines – A month after inking a historic peace agreement, the peace panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) went back to Kuala Lumpur to set the ball rolling for the creation of bodies that will oversee the preparation of former rebels’ shift to civilian life. 

During the preliminary meeting held on April 25, the parties chose National Security Council Undersecretary Zenaida Brosas and MILF-Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) official Mohamed Nasif to be the co-chairs of the Joint Normalization Committee, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said in a statement.

The committee will supervise the normalization process. Brosas and Nasif headed the technical working group on normalization of their respective sides during the peace negotiations. 

Under the annex on normalization, MILF troops will decommission a specific number of their firearms in particular timeframes as the government fulfills corresponding political commitments on its side, including the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law in Congress. (READ: Real peace means the guns will have to go away)

While these parallel activities are happening, customized socio-economic programs will be introduced, and a process for transitional justice and reconciliation will be established.

The government hopes to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with the proposed Bangsamoro political entity by 2016. 

With less than two years to go, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer ackowledge the need to start the decommissioning of firearms soon. 

“We really have to put up the body as soon as possible so that the job of verification of the inventory that would be submitted by the MILF will begin. And everything proceeds from there. Until we are able to verify the number of weapons, the kinds of weapons and also the combatants—who are they, where are they located?—we can’t actually begin, for example, the socio-economic programs that we’ll be providing for the communities of these combatants,” Ferrer said. 

The parties held a preliminary discussion on who will compose the Independent Decommissioning Body but have yet to finalize who they are. 

Also pending are the individuals who will comprise the:

• Joint Peace and Security Committee that will coordinate in maintaining the peace and order situation in conflict affected areas during the transition period
• Study group that would propose the terms and criteria for the amnesty and pardon of MILF members in conflict with the law 
• People who will work for the transformation of 6 previously acknowledged MILF camps in Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao into productive communities

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed on March 27 aims to establish a new form of government  with greater political and fiscal powers than the present ARMM, raising hopes for lasting peace in Mindanao. – Rappler.com