Final decommissioning of MILF combatants to be held on Sept. 28, says Ebrahim

Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said Thursday the final phase of the decommissioning process for the remaining Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants would take place this month.

"The peace implementing panels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Government of the Philippines are scheduled to hold the decommissioning ceremony for the remaining 5,500 former MILF combatants and putting 2,400 firearms beyond use on September 28, 2022, the final phase of the third phase of the decommissioning process," Ebrahim said in his speech during the inauguration of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority 2022-2025.

The decommissioning process of MILF combatants is among the integral part of the normalization track process under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) forged between the government and MILF in 2014.

It aims to help former combatants transform into peaceful and productive citizens.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. graced the inaugural session of the BTA parliament and urged them to pass "crucial" fiscal legislations and other measures that will promote the welfare of the Bangsamoros.

Meanwhile, Ebrahim also vowed to pass important legislations for the welfare of the Moro people, adding that the Bangsamoro Electoral Code and the Local Government Code will be delivered by yearend or by the first quarter of next year.

"We are committed to sustain the momentum and the trust you have given us. As a testament to this, we are poised to file more than 20 Cabinet bills upon the start of the formal session of the parliament," he said.

"These bills include the remaining priority codes. Foremost, we commit to deliver the Bangsamoro Electoral Code and the Bangsamoro Local Government Code, if not by the end of the year, then by the first quarter of 2023," he added.

He said for the remainder of the transition period, "we also envision to enact the Bangsamoro Indigenous Peoples' Right Act, the Gender and Development Code, the Internally Displaced Peoples' (IDP) Law, Magna Carta for Persons With Disabilities, the Irrigation System Bill, and Energy Development Corporation of the Bangsamoro Charter, among other important legislations."

Ebrahim assured Marcos that the BTA "will complete all the remaining transition priorities and finish setting up a government not only ready for a peaceful and orderly election in 2025 but also a government capable of continuing the transformation of the BARMM into a progressive and responsive region."—AOL, GMA News