Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-S2f
COTABATO CITY, September 6, 2025 (SDN) — As the Normalization Track’s decommissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants and their weapons grind to a halt, though temporary, the MILF Peace Implementing Panel (PIP) Chair Mohagher M. Iqbal cited the importance of the process.
He said decommissioning is part of the normalization process enshrined in the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), also emphasizing the deliverables in the CAB.
At the same time, Iqbal, minister of the Ministry of the Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), reiterated the MILF continuing full commitment the decommissioning process as this is in the CAB signed by the Philippine Government (GPH) and the MILF.
“The MILF is fully committed to decommissioning its weapons and combatants pursuant to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). It is a serious moral responsibility and is a sin before Allah if we do not comply with a solemn agreement,” he assures.
Here’s Iqbal’s statement he issued over the week:
“Decommissioning of the MILF weapons and “combatants” is part of the normalization process. The other seven (7) elements or deliverables are namely, constitution of the joint normalization mechanisms, confidence-building measures, socioeconomic interventions, transitional justice and reconciliation (TJR), disbandment of private armed groups, policing, and redeployment of government troops.
“All these deliverables must proceed “parallel and commensurate” with each other. Truth is that the decommissioning is way way ahead while the other elements are trailing badly, especially the disbandment of private armed groups, socioeconomic, and TJR.
“The MILF is fully committed to decommissioning its weapons and combatants pursuant to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). It is a serious moral responsibility and is a sin before Allah if we do not comply with a solemn agreement.
“But decommissioning must be pursued in accordance with the stipulation provided for in the Annex on Normalization: “parallel and commensurate.”
“The MILF decision to halt the decommissioning process is to preserve the gains of the peace process and to allow the government and the MILF to sort out things in their correct appreciation and proper perspective. After all, to stress again, decommissioning is not an isolated issue: it is just one element of the normalization process.
“On a personal note, the statement of some BIAF base commanders on this issue is to be appreciated rather than entertaining any other interpretation. It reflects their oneness with the commitment of the MILF to honor and abide by CAB including the decommissioning of its weapons and combatants.”
The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) fleshed out the provisions of the CAB signed by GPH and MILF on March 27, 2014, after 17 years of protracted peace negotiations. Its signing has provided general peace and security in Mindanao, ending a tumultuous and bloody conflict in the country. (/)