Insurgency: Flaws in MILF Decommissioning Process

In a bid to woo investors and appease the higher-ups the AFP have reaffirmed the insurgency-free status of Ilocos Norte. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1188544

Ilocos Norte officials on Monday reaffirmed the province’s insurgency-free status, assuring investors of its readiness for development.

This as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP or provincial board) unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the declaration of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) that the Ilocos Region, which includes the two cities, 21 municipalities, and 559 barangays of Ilocos Norte, is under a state of stable internal peace and security.

“This means that residents here continue to enjoy generally peaceful communities with no monitored atrocity by communist rebels in the province so far.” said provincial board member Elmer Faylogna, sponsor of the measure.

Nonetheless, Ilocos Norte has welcomed the presence of additional troops composed of the 4th Marine Brigade here in September after their last deployment in Ilocos Norte back in 1983.

During their courtesy visit at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Monday, BGen. Vicente Mark Anthony Blanco reassured fellow Ilocanos that the Marines will stay in the north for good. Blanco is a native of this city as his family resides in Barangay 46 Nalbo.

Since they arrived at the Laoag International Airport, the Marine units from Sulu have been augmenting counter-insurgency operations in Central and Northern Luzon.

They have also assisted the province in its disaster and rescue operations, as well as in the clearing of roads and bringing of relief goods to typhoon victims, particularly in the hard-hit towns of Adams and Pagudpud.

“Being [declared as] insurgency free is not the end. We are here to assist the Philippine Army and help sustain it,” Blanco said on Monday.

Despite being declared insurgency free the AFP has sent in the Marines to secure the area. After all the peace needs to be sustained and the NPA needs to be prevented from regrouping. In Northern Samar the AFP is confident 4 more NPA fronts will be dismantled soon. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1188795

The Philippine Army is eyeing to completely dismantle the remaining four guerrilla fronts of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Samar Island in the early part of 2023 through the whole of nation approach.

Maj. Gen. Camilo Ligayo, commander of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said these remaining fronts have been weakened in the past few years due to the surrender of active fighters and withdrawal of support from villagers.

“We are confident that the three Samar provinces will be cleared from NPA by early of 2023. The government have done a lot to address insurgency down to the community level,” Ligayo said in an interview on Thursday.

Most of the active NPA fighters are operating in Northern Samar and some in the upland areas within the boundaries of Eastern Samar and Samar provinces.

The military estimated that there are still about 300 NPA fighters hiding in the mountains of Samar belonging to the four fronts.

“With National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), our job has been hastened. Ending insurgency is not just a military solution since we need roads, livelihood, health services and education for people not to be influenced by rebels,” Ligayo added.

National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos said in a summit in Palo, Leyte on Wednesday that she will regularly visit the region to assess the situation in Samar and see what the national government can do to attain lasting peace.

“I will always come here until Samar is declared as insurgency-free. We want to make Samar as one of the top tourist destinations in the country,” said Carlos who have presided the regional task force ELCAC meetings twice since October.

Carlos said among the strategies to end an insurgency is to set up libraries in Samar to educate the young generation, build more infrastructure under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan Program of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, and increase the budget for Support to Barangay Development Program intended for areas previously influenced by rebels.

How will libraries end the insurgency?  Obviously they are not directed at the 300 remaining fighters hiding in the mountains. The libraries are "to educate the young generation" which means they are worried about recruitment. But if the young generation sees "good government" and all the infrastructure being built then won't that automatically deter them from joining the NPA? That seems to be what the AFP and NTF-ELCAC and Sara Duterte have all been saying for quite some time now. 

Last week the MILF and AFP were at it again despite having a peace treaty. Oddly enough even though the MILF started it the families of the dead will receive money from the government!

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1188814

The national government’s Joint Task Force (JTF)-Basilan extended financial assistance to the families of seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members killed in last week’s skirmishes with military forces.

In a statement Thursday JTF-Basilan commander Brig. Gen. Domingo Gobway said the financial assistance was distributed to the wives and families of the slain MILF members in a simple ceremony at the headquarters of the 18th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Barangay Campo Uno, Lamitan City, Basilan.

Dan Asnawie, a member of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliament and commander of the MILF’s 114th Base Command in Basilan, joined Gobway in Wednesday’s aid distribution.

Both Gobway and Asnawie agreed to strengthen their partnership in forging peace, security and sustainable development in the province.

The two also considered the incident as lessons learned by both parties that communication and common understanding plays a vital role as peacemakers.

The clashes erupted on Nov. 8 after a soldier stationed at a detachment in Barangay Ulitan, Ungkaya Pukan town, was slightly bruised by sniper fire from an area occupied by MILF members and lawless elements.

On Nov. 10, the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF agreed to a cease-fire ending the sporadic clashes between the soldiers and MILF forces in the area.

Three soldiers were killed and 12 others, including a junior officer, were wounded during the skirmishes.

Lessons learned? They are going to chalk this up to "lessons learned?" But what was the cause of this firefight? Why exactly did the MILF fire upon the AFP? According to Basilian Representative Hataman the roots extend into the flawed decommissioning process. 

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/851363/basilan-rep-hataman-sees-flaws-in-milf-decommissioning-process/story/

Armed conflict is likely to persist in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) given the current state of the decommissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters, a Mindanao-based lawmaker said Monday.

According to Basilan Representative Mujiv Hataman, only 62% of the target 40,000 MILF combatants have been decommissioned eight years since the group signed a peace deal with the government.

"We should prioritize decommissioning of armed combatants so nobody can take up arms anymore, because we are addressing armed conflict here," Hataman said during a congressional briefing on the state of the peace process and on the peace and order situation in BARMM.

Hataman was referring to the normalization phase of the peace agreement inked between the government and the MILF in 2014 wherein MILF combatants will abandon armed struggle by turning over their functional firearms to the government in phases, depending on the progress of the implementation of the peace deal.

The lawmaker said the bloody encounter between the military and MILF forces in Basilan last week, which left three soldiers and three MILF fighters dead, would not have happened if only the government did have a full list of the 40,000 MILF combatants that are due for decommissioning.

"But up to now, we don't have a list. That is a violation of the signed agreement, right?" Hataman asked, to which Diciano replied, "For that particular agreement, it is being violated, sir."

Hataman then urged both the government and MILF peace panels to resolve this.

"This is a weakness of [the] normalization [process]. This is a wake up call to all of us. Let us be honest with each other. Huwag tayo maglokohan kasi niloloko lang natin ang sarili natin," he said.

(Let us not fool each other because we will just be fooling ourselves.)

"If the decommissioning process goes on like this, this decommissioning will never end," Hataman added.

Representative Hataman claims they have no official list of MILF fighters needing to be decommissioned and that this is what lead to the recent deadly encounter and will lead to more armed conflict. Presidential Peace Advisor Galvez denies that accusation.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/851737/galvez-denies-missing-list-of-milf-forces/story/

Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. on Thursday denied that there was a missing list of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces.

“We would like to set the record straight that it is inaccurate to claim or allege that there is a missing list of MILF forces,” Galvez said in a statement.

“The list of decommissioned combatants is safely secured and maintained by the [Independent Decommissioning Body] and the [Department of Social Welfare and Development],” he added.

Galvez issued the statement after Leyte Representative Richard Gomez slammed the agency over the “missing” list during a recent House briefing on the state of the peace process in the Bangsamoro.

Galvez said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) has a copy of the list of decommissioned MILF combatants that was prepared and vetted by the IDB, a third-party body.

According to OPAPRU, IDB is composed of international experts from Turkey, Norway, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, and the designation of competent and local experts from the Philippine government.

“The processes, protocols and mechanisms established in the decommissioning program of the MILF forces were crafted under the peace agreement to ensure integrity, professionalism and level of trust and confidence in the process,” Galvez said.

“It is a product of careful and several consultation processes with various stakeholders, taking into account the best practices from disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes from other peace processes in other countries,” he added.

If Galvez is right then why would Representative Hataman make such an accusation? From where is he getting his facts? 

Aside from the international experts overseeing the decommissioning program the OPAPRU also thanks the USA for helping with the peace process.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1188873

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) thanked the United States for its continued support for the country's peace education efforts and other major initiatives.

OPAPRU chief Carlito Galvez made this statement during a courtesy call of US Ambassador MaryKay L. Carlson on Thursday, the OPAPRU said in a Facebook post.

During her visit, Carlson pledged the US government’s commitment to supporting the Philippines' comprehensive peace process under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

“We are committed to working with you for peace, not just in the Philippines. But what that means is we are reverberating for this whole region and globally,” Carlson told the OPAPRU chief. “It’s whole-of-embassy effort from our part, reflecting our inter-agency in Washington.”

Galvez, meanwhile, thanked the US government for its assistance to the Philippine government in various areas, such as in promoting peace education, coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines, counter-terrorism, disaster relief, and other major peace initiatives.

“I personally thank the United States government and its people for (their) support even during the time when I was the commander of Western Mindanao Command. The US forces provided significant intelligence and technical support during the liberation of Marawi," he said.

Galvez also thanked Washington DC for extending tremendous support when he was leading the country’s vaccine efforts.

"And now, the US government is also actively involved as we are ensuring the implementation of the comprehensive peace process,” he added.

Another official admitting the USA gave substantial support during the Marawi siege. 

3 recently surrendered members of the BIFF have offered their assistance to the government. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1188879

Three members of the extremist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) yielded with their guns to the military, an Army official said Friday.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Cadiente Jr., Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion commander, said the three belonged to the BIFF - Kagui Karialan faction who peacefully surrendered in Barangay Zapakan, Rajah Buayan town, Thursday.

“They feared for their lives because of our relentless campaign against them. That is one of the reasons they decided to yield,” he said.

The trio turned in two Carbine rifles and a Garand rifle to Cadiente.

Alias Tiu, one of the surrenderers, said they were extremely exhausted from always being on the run from pursuing military forces.

“Our fight is going nowhere, we want to live normal lives with our families,” he was quoted by the military as saying in the vernacular.

Tiu vowed to help the government "convince our colleagues in the mountains to give up and avail of the government programs for surrendering rebels.”

If these men ever killed a solider it's a safe bet they will never be held accountable for it.