Indonesian troops end year-long stint in International Monitoring Team

COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- Indonesian members of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) on Monday bade the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division goodbye in an exit protocol following a year-long mission in the country’s south.

 

The IMT, comprised of soldiers and police from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and non-uniformed conflict resolution experts from Norway, the European Union and Japan, has been helping oversee the ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since 2003.

 

The outgoing Indonesians in the IMT, led by Col. Elphis Rudy, were at the 6th ID’s headquarters in Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao on Monday for a traditional military farewell with local Army commanders.

 

A new team of soldiers from Indonesia is expected to replace Rudy and his subordinates soon.

 

Rudy and his men were accompanied by Japan’s representative to the IMT, Takayuki Nakagawa, who is to be replaced by the Japanese government too after a year-long peacekeeping stint in Southern Mindanao.

 

Most of the MILF’s guerilla enclaves are in the neighboring North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao provinces, all inside the Area of Responsibility of the 6th ID.

 

The 6th ID awarded the outgoing Indonesian IMT members with military merit medals for their efficient monitoring of the enforcement of the 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities between Malacañang and the MILF.

 

The commander of 6th ID, Major Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, said he and his subordinates in the division, the largest Army unit in Central Mindanao, are thankful to the Malaysian-led IMT for its continuing support to the implementation of the ceasefire.