To fund decommissioning of remaining MILF combatants

DEPUTY Minority Leader and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman has secured from the Development and Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) a commitment to fund the decommissioning of the remaining 14,000 combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the 2024 national budget.

“Isa sa mga bagay ang decommissioning ng mga MILF combatants na dapat matupad para maging ganap na ang kapayapaan sa Bangsamoro.

Ilang taon nating pinaghirapan at pinagsikapan na maabot ang kapayapaan, kaya sana ay matapos na natin ito,” Hataman, former governor of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said.

“Maliit lang naman ang kailangang pondo sa decommissioning. Kaya nagpapasalamat tayo sa commitment na ibinigay ng DBCC na gagawan ito ng paraan na pondohan na ang decommissioning ng natitira pang MILF combatants sa 2024 national budget,” he added.

Responding to Hataman’s queries during the plenary deliberations of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for next year, House committee on appropriations Senior Vice Chair and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo bared that the decommissioning allocation for next year is P901 million.

The amount covers the decommissioning of over 9,000 combatants. For 2025, over 4,000 more combatants will be decommissioned.

In last year’s deliberation of the national budget, Hataman said he asked if the decommissioning through the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) could be funded using unprogrammed funds, and the answer was “yes.”

“Pero hanggang ngayon, tinatanong ko yung OPAPRU, wala paring nakukuha at hindi pa rin nagbibigay ng allocation mula unprogrammed funds.

Remember, meron na po tayong malaki-laking amount–more than P200 billion–na nagamit natin sa unprogrammed funds,” the Basilan lawmaker said.

“Eh kung maliit lang din naman ang kailangan ng peace process, baka question ng priority. Hindi po priority ng DBCC and decommissioning,” he said.

After a long suspension of the deliberations and discussions on the sidelines, Hataman asked, “Can I have the commitment of the distinguished sponsor and the DBCC on the allocation of the remaining combatants of the MILF for the year 2024?”

To which Quimbo replied, “Yes, Madam Speaker.”

Hataman said he hopes this expression of commitment from the DBCC translates to the actual funding of the remaining decommissioning activities of the peace process.

According to news reports, some 26,145 MILF fighters have been decommissioned as of this year. The fourth phase of the process starts in the last quarter of this year.

The decommissioning of MILF combatants is among the key provisions of the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), or the peace agreement between the government of the Philippines and the MILF signed in 2014.

Combatants who lay down their arms will receive P100,000 each in transitional cash assistance from the government.