MILF to fully decommission arms when all BOL deals implemented — Iqbal

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel chair on Wednesday said that the group will withdraw all its weapons when all the agreements in the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) have been implemented.

However, MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal said during his interview on News To Go, that the arrangement on the decommissioning of firearms of rebels is still vague—without definite guidelines and methods.

“Kung titignan mo po kung ano ang nalagay sa agreement ng gobyerno tsaka Moro Islamic Liberation Front, wala pong comprehensive at final arrangement kung paano ang gagawin, paano hahawakan ang armas ng MILF,” Iqbal said.

The agreement between MILF and the government includes normalization of the rebels, which means they  have to decommission their weapons and become part of a productive community.

Iqbal said that if the security situation in Mindanao is stable and the people are protected, they will be willing to give up their firearms.

“Ang paniniwala po namin, ang may hawak lang ng armas ay pulis at Armed Forces of the Philippines. Talagang pumapayag po kami na talagang i-de-decommission yung armas namin,” he said.

Iqbal said the decommissioning of firearms will be gradual, depending on how the agreements will be implemented. — Joviland Rita/BM, GMA News