Marcos admin vows to fast-track Normalization Program for ex-MILF combatants

The Marcos administration said it would accelerate the implementation of the Normalization Program for former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants, their families and communities.

The program, which has been called for in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) passed in 2014, aims to uplift the conditions of the ex-MILF combatants, their families and communities.

Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo Jr., during the 10th meeting of the Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization (ICCMN) on Thursday, said the normalization program is part of government efforts to give importance to the attainment of long-lasting peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Lagdameo also called on member-agencies of the ICCMN “to ensure that committed deliverables are met in the near-term, and that those facing significant challenges due to budgetary constraints or implementing agency absorptive capacity are flagged at the soonest possible opportunity.”

Among the measures included in the normalization program are training and sustainable livelihood activities.

Meanwhile, Presidential Peace Adviser and ICCMN Co-Chairperson Carlito Galvez, Jr. urged ICCMN member-agencies to continue their socioeconomic interventions under the Normalization Program for fiscal year 2023.

In particular, Galvez cited the following:

• Technical Education And Skills Development Authority for its Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for decommissioned MILF combatants;
• Department of Labor and Employment for its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) Program;
• Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for providing birth registration assistance to decommissioned combatants (DCs);
• National Irrigation Authority (NIA) for community irrigation systems in MILF communities; and
• Department of Social Welfare and Development for helping former combatants through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

Galvez also said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) will continue the following initiatives in 2024 under the National Expenditure Program:

• immediate cash assistance for decommissioned combatants (DCs) under the fourth phase of decommissioning;
• study grants for 1,050 DCs;
• the provision of health insurance premiums; and
• the conduct of Alternative Learning System (ALS) for DCs.

OPAPRU will also build a fish port, five evacuation centers, seven bridges, 11 roads and 15 water systems in the 33 core barangays within the six previously-acknowledged MILF camps, through its PAyapa at MAsagaNAng Pamayanan (PAMANA) program.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, during the meeting, also said the Department of Health was able to accomplish the following under the Normalization Program:

• producing 15 registered midwives who are the offspring of MILF combatants;
• 25% completion of rural health infrastructures projects;
• processing of the PhilHealth membership of combatants; and
• continuous construction of health, primary care, and other special facilities.

Meanwhile, BARMM Minister of Interior and Local Government Naguib Sinarimbo said the BARMM is "open to doing attribution of our programs to complement the national government programs for the combatants and communities."

The Bangsamoro Organic Law, which operationalizes the CAB was ratified in 2019, Lagdameo said.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 pushed back the implementation of the Normalization Program, he added.

The ICCMN was established in April 2019 under the Duterte administration to ensure the timely, appropriate, and efficient implementation of the Normalization Program.

The Marcos administration meanwhile issued Executive Order No. 6 in 2022 to strengthen the ICCMN. —KG, GMA Integrated News