Guns for former MILF combatants

This is in reference to the column entitled: “Buying new guns for ex-MILF a serious mistake” written by Bobit Avila and published on Sept. 10, issue of the Philippine STAR.

While we respect Mr. Avila’s interpretation of the statement made by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the “Launching of the Decommissioning of MILF Combatants and Weapons” last Sept. 7 in Maguindanao province, we wish to put into proper context the intent of the particular speech of the President.

It is not the intention of the President to issue new firearms to the decommissioned combatants of the MILF as what Mr. Avila claimed.

What the President meant was to provide the decommissioned MILF combatants, who would join the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), of new weapons – if requested – to secure the newly established Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao since they are now part of the government.

We are providing here the exact transcript of the excerpt of the speech to set the record straight. “Don’t be sad na ang armas ninyo binigay ninyo sa gobyerno kasi kayo gobyerno na.

Kung kailangan talaga ninyo ng armas para idepensa ninyo ang gobyerno dito sa BARMM, walang problema bigyan ko kayo na mas bago. Kasing bago noong binigay ni Kagi [Murad].

Bili pa ako na mas bago, mas maganda. Do not be disheartened na nagsurrender ka ng armas. Inyo na itong gobyerno. Binigay na namin sa inyo.”

In fact, the President advised the decommissioned combatants to wisely use the immediate cash assistance that were given to them for income-generating initiatives and “not to buy firearms.”

Under the Normalization Track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, former combatants of the MILF will be allowed to join the AFP and PNP as part of the program.

The decommissioning process is part of the comprehensive Normalization program that includes security, socio-economic development, confidence-building measures, and transitional justice and reconciliation, with the aim to help transform the decommissioned combatants into productive civilians in the community.

The program intends to change the mindset of former combatants by addressing the social conditions and eradicating the underlying factors that prompt them to bear arms.

We hope through this letter we are correcting misconceptions with regards to the implementation of the Normalization Track between the government and the MILF. – Atty. Wilben Mayor, OPAPP Spokesperson