MILF peace panel chair defends decommissioning suspension

Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal defended the suspension of the decommissioning process of their combatants and weapons, saying that the move was to preserve the gains of the peace process.

- BY KEITH BACONGCO

In a statement, Iqbal said that even as the MILF temporarily suspended the decommissioning process, the group remains committed to the implementation of 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 said.

The MILF Central Committee suspended the decommissioning process last July.

The MILF insisted that the suspension will take effect until there is “substantial compliance by the (Philippine government) in the other tracks of normalization, including the provision of socioeconomic package as agreed upon by the GPH and MILF Peace Implementing Panels to the 26,145 (decommissioned) combatants.”

Decommissioning of the MILF weapons and combatants is part of the normalization process.

The other seven elements or deliverables are 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.