Gov’t, MILF forming int’l decommissioning body

MANILA, Philippines - The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has created the International Decommissioning Body (IDB) that will lead in the gradual decommissioning of MILF forces and their weapons, according to government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.

Ferrer said the IDB’s creation was part of recent discussions between the government and MILF peace panels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the composition of the different bodies that will oversee and implement the normalization process.

“The IDB would be the one to supervise, oversee and basically implement the decommissioning process,” Ferrer said in a statement Tuesday.

The IDB is stipulated on the Annex on Normalization, one of the salient documents of the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro signed on March 27 in Malacañang.

The IDB shall be composed of three foreign experts, including the chairman, and four local experts jointly nominated by the two parties.

The two parties shall invite three states to provide the foreign experts.

Ferrer said the procedure is for the MILF to submit a list of weapons and combatants, an inventory of which will be verified by the IDB and work toward the programming of the decommissioning schedule as agreed upon in the Annex on Normalization.

“We really have to put up the body as soon as possible so that the job of verification of the inventory that would be submitted by the MILF will begin,” she added.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista said the MILF forces in Basilan remain “irregular” after some members joined the Abu Sayyaf during the gun battle against government troops three weeks ago in Tipo-Tipo town.

Ferrer said there will be no wholesale integration of MILF combatants into the Armed Forces and Philippine National Police (PNP).

Unlike the integration undertaken by the Moro National Liberation Front following the 1996 final peace agreement during the Ramos administration, she said only interested and qualified former combatants will be welcomed to join the regular forces.

She also said there is a provision for the setting up of a police force for the Bangsamoro that will still be part of the PNP.

The police force will be provided with resources to guarantee their professionalism and capability to take charge of peace and order concerns.

Ferrer said the formation of the Joint Normalization Committee and the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) was also discussed during the meeting of the government and MILF panels.

The government and MILF agreed to invite the Swiss government to provide an expert who would chair the TJRC.

The panels also agreed to cooperate in the review process of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that was submitted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission to the Office of the President on April 22.

The Office of the Executive Secretary and Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel are leading the review process.

President Aquino will certify to Congress the draft law as urgent after the review process is completed. – With Aurea Calica