Government, MILF panels to sign decommissioning deal in Kuala Lumpur

MANILA, Philippines - The meeting in Kuala Lumpur between the peace panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the decommissioning of rebel weapons will push through tomorrow, but with Sunday’s slaughter of police commandos in Maguindanao to be included in the agenda.

Government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said yesterday that members of the MILF were en route to the Malaysian capital, but without their vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar.

“It is very clear, and I was informed about the statement of Mr. Jaafar, that he will not come to Kuala Lumpur. Jaafar is not part of the negotiating panel. But the people that we are in contact with said that they are now at the airport on their way to Kuala Lumpur. It will push through as scheduled,” Ferrer told The STAR over the phone.

Jaafar said the encounter in Mamasapano in Maguidanao that left 44 members of the police Special Action Force (SAF) dead would be discussed in the Kuala Lumpur meeting.

Police commandos on a mission to arrest two terrorists in Mamasapano were waylaid by hundreds of heavily armed fighters from the MILF and the radical Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters before dawn Sunday. The MILF called the incident a “misencounter.”

Ferrer said none of the peace panel members of both sides wanted to delay the peace process.

She also scoffed at former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada’s declaration that only an all- out war would solve the secessionist problem in Mindanao.

“You can win the battle, but you cannot win the war. In the process, many people were displaced and they will be added to the numbers of those who got angry with the troops. So, the problem is not solved,” she said.

“The only way to find a lasting solution to the problem in Mindanao is to create an institution for governance,” Ferrer said. “Going back to war is a solution that will result only in disaster.”

Ferrer also said she remains hopeful that Sens. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., JV Ejercito and Alan Peter Cayetano would reconsider their decision to withdraw their support for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

The BBL is the enabling law that will create the Bangsamoro entity, which will replace the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We understand the spur of the moment (decision). We hope that as things improve, the investigation being done now and as things are being explained by both sides, we will get back their support,” Ferrer said.

She said she is confident of seeing the passage of the BBL as targeted in March.

In a statement posted on the website of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Ferrer said the government and the MILF peace panels are expected to sign the protocol on implementing the decommissioning of MILF arms and forces during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Weapons turnover

Ferrer said both parties are also expected to discuss plans for the turnover of the first batch of weapons to the Turkey-led International Decommissioning Body (IDB).

The seven-member IDB is tasked to supervise the processing of rebel combatants to be decommissioned and assist them in their transformation into productive civilians.

The body will also secure the storage area for decommissioned weapons.

The IDB comprises experts from Norway and Brunei, as well as four local representatives.

“The signatories to the protocol implementing guidelines are the panel chairs, the chair of the IDB and the facilitator of Malaysia,” Ferrer said.

Haydar Berk, former Turkish representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and current advisor to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads the IDB.

Members include Jan Erik Wilhemsen, a retired general from Norway who was part of United Nations peacekeeping forces in Honduras, El Salvador, Central Sudan, Nigeria and Nepal; Maj. Muhammad Aiman Syazwi Bin Haji Abdul Rahim of the Royal Brunei Land Force (RBLF); and local representatives Lt. Gen. Rey Ardo, Mario Aguja, Von Al-Haq and Isah Bato.