DAVAO CITY -- Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Al Hajj Murad Ibrahim revealed that the discourse on the decommissioning still prevails within their organization.

Speaking at the initial decommissioning ceremony of weapons and MILF combatants at the Old Provincial Capitol, in Barangay Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Murad said that their presence shows their decision and commitment to comply with all signed agreements with the government.

He said that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III understands their experience under oppression, their thirst for justice and their firm resolve that conflict shall never happen again.

Murad said the decommissioning is not surrender but yielding to a higher struggle from being an armed revolutionary organization to a political organization ready to govern and serve the Bangsamoro people.

“We are looking at transformation of the Bangsamoro from the state of conflict and underdevelopment to a state of peace and prosperity, and the transformation of the Philippines to be more just, more inclusive.  We proclaim our commitment to peace not by word but by action,” he said.

Murad also believes that the decommissioning without the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

He said that their strength is based not on the firearms but on the affection on the Moro people.

“We may have all the arms in the world, but there will be no victory without the support of the Bangsamor people,” Murad pointed out.

Murad underscored that the initial decommissioning of 145 MILF fighters and 75 firearms goes beyond statistics.

He said the 145 MILF warriors signify 145 stories of struggle, pain, hopelessness and death.

Murad said that the 145 MILF warriors also show 145 stories of hope and faith that peace is near and all the sacrifices are worth it.

“I see not only their stories, but also my story and the stories of all the mujaheedins who have given their lives to protect the Bangsamoro people,” he said.

Murad said that the presence of the MILF warriors also signify the stories of the Bangsamoro’s experiences on oppression, tyranny and eventually their liberation.

Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, chair of the government peace panel said the initial decommissioning of weapons and fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front serves under the normalization program for their return to normal lives as civilians.

She said decommissioning  does not mean surrender, since it is based on an agreement between the government and the MILF to respect the human dignity of every fighter and to put beyond use any animosity or reason to go to war, given the solutions at hand.

Coronel-Ferrer said the decommissioning involves initially 75 high-powered firearms and 145 MILF warriors who would hand over these firearms to the Independent Decommissioning Body composed of Turkey, Norway, Brunei and representatives from government and the MILF.

She explained that the 145 MILF warriors were the offshoot of the survey conducted by the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies in 2014, whose needs will be determined in the actual verification process.

“Most of the warrior are either Iranun or Maguindanawon and veterans of the 2000 conflict,” Coronel-Ferrer said.

She said that even if the initial decommissioning is more of a dry-run all functionaries for the peace process to prosper are already in place.

Coronel-Ferrer underscored that the turning in of weapons by the MILF to the IDB is an indication that they also want to take the roadmap to peace.
 

“The rationale of this activity is because we choose peace and we are staying in the course of peace. Let us help one another,” she pointed out.