Duterte assures decommissioned Moro fighters of humanitarian support
Mindanao Peace Process • 05:45 AM Sun Sep 8, 2019
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By:
John M. Unson
From RTVM Facebook live stream.
COTABATO CITY --- President Rodrigo Duterte today promised to usher to mainstream society the decommissioned members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The president was in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao today to lead the decommissioning of 1,060 MILF fighters as part of the effort to restore normalcy in five provinces of the Bangsamoro region, locked in a secessionist conflict since the late 1960s.
He told the decommissioned MILF guerillas the government will do its best to hasten their return to mainstream communities.
Hadji Ahod Ebrahim, chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Saturday’s symbolic decommissioning event is yet another milestone in the southern peace process.
“Instead of carrying firearms we shall now carry farm tools,” Ebrahim said.
The event was attended by key elected officials in BARMM, among them Maguindanao Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu, who campaigned extensively for the ratification of BARMM’s charter, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, via a plebiscite on January 21 this year.
Ebrahim said the MILF is grateful to residents of BARMM, to local and foreign organizations helping push the peace process forward.