Weapons turned over by MILF authentic, secure – IDB member

The weapons that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front turned over to the Independent Decommissioning Body in June are authentic and are secure, a retired military officer in the panel said.

 

“Under the watch of the IDB, the decommissioned weapons of the MILF have been placed in secure storage facilities and will remain there until they are finally put beyond use,” retired Lt. Gen. Rey Ardo, IDB member, said in a statement from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

 

He said the weapons will be kept under lock and key to keep them from being used by "lawless elements" or ending up on the black market.

 

Ardo also addressed statements made by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that 28 of the 75 weapons that the MILF turned over are "paltiks" or improvised weapons.

 

The retired general said that “based on my experience and competency as a retired general  of the [Armed Forces of the Philippines], these are the original weapons used by the MILF in their fight with the government.”

 

He added the 75 crew-served and high-powered weapons "were clearly not manufactured for the sake of the ceremonial decommissioning."

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In a July 9 press release posted on the Senate website, "Marcos noted that out of the 75 firearms the MILF turned over to the government for the first phase of the decommissioning process last July 16, 28 were 'paltik' or homemade firearms, bolstering charges that the Moro rebel group manufactures their own guns."

"Never mind kung paltik or hindi but it indicates that they manufacture firearms. So what are we going to do with that issue?" Marcos also said in the press statement.

6ID: No MILF weapons facilities in Central Mindanao

The Army 6th Infantry Division has said it has investigated reports that the MILF had weapons facilities in its area of responsibility and found no evidence of any.

“Our ground forces have already verified such claims. There is no truth to such allegations,” 6th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan said in a separate OPAPP release.

In June, the AFP Public Affairs Office said that the military has not monitored any MILF weapons facilities in Mindanao or in any other part of the country.

The ceremonial decommissioning is part of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the government and the MILF. The decommissioning, which will be done in phases, is meant to gradually bring MILF fighters back into the mainstream. — JDS, GMA News