BARMM governors appeal anew to govt.

LANAO DEL SUR – Muslim governors in the Bangsamoro autonomous region have appealed anew to the national government to hasten the decommissioning of thousands of armed members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014.

 

Photos released by the Bangsamoro Governors' Caucus show Governors Mamintal Adiong Jr of Lanao del Sur; Sakur Tan of Sulu, Mariam Mangudadatu of Maguindanao del Sur; Ysmael Sali of Tawi-Tawi; and Hadjiman Salliman of Basilan during a closed door meeting with senior government officials led by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr at a hotel in Manila. 

Governors Mamintal Adiong Jr of Lanao del Sur; Sakur Tan of Sulu, Mariam Mangudadatu of Maguindanao del Sur; Ysmael Sali of Tawi-Tawi; and Hadjiman Salliman of Basilan have met closed door with senior government officials led by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr and discussed the decommissioning process and other issues concerning the restive region. 

Although the governors are supporting the peace process and the regional government headed mostly by former MILF rebels, they appealed to Teodoro and Abalos to take into account their position and recommendations to promote peace and security in the region leading up to the elections in October 2023 and May 2025. 

The appeal, they said, is the primary outcome of a series of meetings and discussions among them, who are behind the Bangsamoro Governors’ Caucus (BGC). They emphasize that their position and recommendations are driven by the desire for peaceful and prosperous communities, as expressed by their constituents. 

The BGC highlighted that the genuine and meaningful decommissioning of the MILF faces several significant challenges which the governors have identified. 

In a statement released recently by Adiong, the group’s spokesman, it said: “One major obstacle is the lack of reliable baseline data, which undermines the credibility of the decommissioning process and erodes trust among the involved parties. The BGC points out that the absence of a comprehensive list detailing the whereabouts of the alleged 40,000 combatants, their base commands, and whether they face criminal charges makes it difficult to ensure proper execution of the decommissioning.” 

“Reports indicate that those who have been decommissioned so far may not be genuine combatants, and the dismantling of base commands is progressing slowly. To address this issue, the BGC recommends making the list of 40,000 MILF members designated for decommissioning readily available for validation by all concerned parties. Furthermore, the BGC emphasizes that the efficient and timely progress of the decommissioning process relies on the allocation of public funds, particularly from the Special Development Funds of the BARMM regional government, to support the needs of decommissioned combatants.” 

The statement further noted that the presence of MILF base commands in certain areas poses complications for law enforcement agencies and peace mechanisms, as they face challenges in maintaining law and order. 

“Attempts to serve warrants of arrest in these areas have resulted in armed encounters, with the MILF accusing government agents of operating without prior coordination. This situation raises suspicions of criminal elements being harbored in MILF camps or base commands, further complicating the overall decommissioning process, according to the BGC,” it said. 

Just last month, security forces trying to arrest suspected terrorists clashed with them in Datu Paglas town in Maguindanao del Sur and killed seven gunmen, but the fighting also left a police commando wounded. The MILF said those killed were their members. 

In February, MILF members held hostage 39 elite army soldiers in Lanao del Sur and released them a day later after security officials negotiated for their freedom. Former rebels captured the soldiers who were members of the Special Forces, in the village of Dilimbayan in Lanao del Sur’s Maguing town. 

The soldiers were all disarmed and brought them to an MILF camp on February 7, where heavily armed men guarded them throughout the night. They were part of a group that stormed a communist rebel base near the town and were returning to their rendezvous when MILF forces surrounded and captured them. Members of the government’s ceasefire committee negotiated with their MILF counterpart and successfully recovered the soldiers after their release on February 8. It was unclear whether MILF gunmen returned the weapons they seized from the Special Forces soldiers. 

Before the MILF - whose chieftain Ahod Ebrahim, now the Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro autonomous region - signed the peace agreement, the Philippine military estimated the number of rebel forces at around 12,000 or less. But this number ballooned to over 40,000 fighters following the signing of the peace accord, and since then many MILF members have steadily acquired new and powerful weapons. 

The same goes with the former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) under Nur Misuari which signed a peace accord with the government in 1996. Many MNLF members are still heavily-armed with new automatic weapons and maintain s0-called bases in the South. Security forces in Sulu recently clashed with a group of MNLF led by former Maimbung town vice mayor Pando Mudjasan while trying to serve an arrest warrant for murder and for keeping a huge stockpile of illegal weapons. 

The clashes, which lasted over 12 hours, killed a member of the police Special Action Force and wounded 14 more, including an army soldier. National police chief General Benjamin Acorda ordered a manhunt against Mudjasan and his group following their escape. They are believed to be sheltered by the MNLF in Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner)