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COTABATO CITY (SDN) — The Bangsamoro Parliament wants to see the resurrection of the International Monitoring Team (IMT).
This was in the wake of the killing of seven persons on Sunday who were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) during a raid in Barangay Damawato, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur.
It was learned that at least a Member of Parliament (MP) Bailing Simpal Utto Mantawil issued the call for the return of the IMT, which was led by Malaysia, the third-party facilitator in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Launched in October 2014 as a mechanism overseeing the on-ground implementation of the GPH-MILF ceasefire agreement, the IMT exited in 2022 after completing its mission concerning the two parties’ peace talks.
IMT was a neutral third-party body tasked to monitor the security, humanitarian, rehabilitation and development, socio-economic assistance, and civilian protection aspects of the accord.
The IMT M-16 under Malaysia and IMT M-17 were the last to serve in Mindanao. It had contingents in Cotabato City, Iligan City, and Zamboanga City and played crucial role in sustaining the peace process despite major and minor setbacks.
Many setbacks in the Philippine peace process were averted from escalating because of the IMP’s peacemaking role. It could be said the IMT’s vital role contributed to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) through the 2018 Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
Another stalwart of the Parliament of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), supports strengthening the existing peace mechanisms.
Parliament Floor Leader Attorney May Ann Arnado, also a big name in Mindanao’s civil society community, described the seven MILF’s death as “senseless”.
“We really need to revisit, evaluate, and strengthen existing peace mechanisms in the light of the senseless death of the 7 MILF members who were killed during the raid,” she emphasized.
“It is publicly known and acknowledged that the authorities need to coordinate with AHJAG (Ad Hoc Joint Action Group) in the interdiction of lawless elements with MILF areas to avoid bloodshed like what happened in Datu Paglas,” she added.
Arnado noted the absence of the IMT aggravated the problem, saying the international monitors played a very crucial role in monitoring compliance of the security aspect of the peace agreement the MILF and the Philippine government signed.
On Sunday, June 18, at dawn, a Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) team with a military component raided a place in Barangay Damawato, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur, reportedly to serve a search warrant on Nasser Yusseff Husain and his brother Norjihad Madidis Husain.
News reports quoted Brigadier General Allan Nobleza, regional commander of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) as saying the police-military team were met attempting to serve the search warrant was met with a staccato of gunfire.
After the smoke clear the two Husain and five other persons were killed. They were Mamex Karem, Dela Singkala, Morsid Madidis, Jerry Pagugunang, and his brother Punpugay, all of Barangay Damawato (via Philippines News Agency).
Nobleza tagged the Husain brothers as “wanted persons involved in various criminal activities in Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces”.
Meanwhile, Nurjihad Husain’s wife Emma, asserted her husband was not armed while rejecting police claim that her husband was a “terrorist”.
Arnado’s mention of AHJAG calls to mind the said peace mechanism’s role in the GPH-MILF talks.
Related: Enhanced AHJAG
“AHJAG’s mandate is to coordinate and monitor between and among the AFP, PNP, and MILF to ensure that law enforcement operations against criminal elements within MILF areas are effectively conducted without jeopardizing the ceasefire between the government and the MILF,” a report on the Official Gazette pointed out. — EKU (✓)