No need to include disarming of MILF forces in BBL  — govt peace panel chief

There is no need to include the decommissioning of the armed component of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Bangsamoro Basic Law, government chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said on Friday.

In a statement, Ferrer said the item on the disarming of the MILF forces is already included in the Annex on Normalization, one of the key documents of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which the MILF and the Philippine government signed last March.

Under that annex, the IDB (Independent Decommissioning Body) is tasked to oversee the gradual decommissioning of MILF forces and weapons. This body shall be composed of three foreign experts and four local experts.

"They are obligated to see this through with the help of the government and the IDB that we will set up very soon," she said.

"The process would be gradual and phased, and commensurate with the developments in the legislative process of passing the BBL," she added.

Also, she said that full decommissioning of the weapons and combatants of the MILF will happen after the creation of the Bangsamoro political entity and the police force in the region.

While high-powered and crew-served weapons will be turned over to the IDB, MILF forces may still carry small arms through a registration process that conforms with the national firearms law, she said.

Normalization process

For her part, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles also said there is no need to put the normalization process in the BBL.

The normalization process, which includes the decommissioning of the MILF, aims to bring peace among conflict-affected communities in Mindanao.

Also, she said the only aspect in the normalization process that will be included in the law for the future Bangsamoro region is the creation of the  police force, which will be part of the Philippine National Police.

President Benigno Aquino III submitted on Wednesday the draft BBL to Congress leaders.

On March 27, the Philippine government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which will serve as the basis for the drafting of the BBL.

The law will formalize the creation of the Bangsamoro political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The CAB and the BBL aim to establish genuine autonomy in the south that respects the diversity of the people in the area, the basic rights of all, and ensure collective security and prosperity,” Ferrer said. — Amanda Fernandez /LBG, GMA News