IDB prepares for actual decommissioning process after simulation exercises

IN PREPARATION for the decommissioning of the 12,000 Moro Islamic Liberations Front (MILF) combatants, or 30% of its armed forces, the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) conducted a series of decommissioning simulation exercises. On April 24, the 8^th and the most recent exercise was implemented in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao where around a hundred Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) members attended. Representatives from the government and the MILF were present during the exercises, together with members of the decommissioning body to assume their actual roles in the process. In a press release, the IDB said, “The outcome of the full-scale decommissioning simulation signaled that the actual process is ready to begin soon.” The decommissioning of the combatants of the MILF is under the normalization annex of the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro. The first 30% of the combatants is to be decommissioned after the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. Towards the end of the transition in 2022, the MILF’s armed forces is expected to have decommissioned 100% of its members. In an interview with BusinessWorld on January this year, MILF Chair and Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Interim Chief Minister Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said that “the decommissioning is part of MILF’s transformation to being a political organization.” — Tajallih S. Basman