THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Wednesday remained skeptical about the fate of the Bangsamoro Basic Law despite the handing over of 75 firearms of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for decommissioning, describing it as merely “for show” and would not reverse the public opposition to the BBL.
MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza said the disarmament process, one of the vital provisions in the BBL, a condition set in the peace deal for its passage, would remain an “illusion” unless the MILF surrendered all its firearms.
“It’s [the surrender of the 75 firearms] a move of desperation. They are aware that the BBL is very difficult to pass,” Cerveza said.
House leaders have expressed hope that the MILF will surrender all its firearms to the government and renounce violence and armed struggle after attaining their independence.
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. Belmonte said the MILF should strictly comply with the decommissioning program of the government whose first phase started Tuesday.
“We are expecting that the MILF will lay down all their arms as they return to the fold of the law,” said Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association.
Belmonte said he was hopeful the MILF members “will surrender all their firearms, but probably by batches as agreed upon by the government and MILF.”
Belmonte said the MILF should renounce violence at all costs.
Magdalo party-list Rep. Ashley Acedillo praised the implementation of the decommissioning program that aims to put the arms and forces of the rebel group beyond use as agreed by the Parties under the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
Cerveza said the decommissioning of weapons ahead of the passage of the BBL was “very suspicious.”
Aside from the 75 firearms, at least 145 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Force were also decommissioned.
But Cerveza doubted if the 145 BIAF members were in the official rooster of the MILF since the MILF leadership provided no details during the decommissioning—even as he suspected that the BIAF personnel, most them old, had long been retired and decommissioned.
“The old MILF members should not be holding arms. they would have been instead elevated to the upper echelon of the MILF,” Cerveza said.
“If the decommissioning will not include the rank and file, complex problems will arise.”
Cerveza expressed disbelief in the capacity of the MILF to force the surrender of all the firearms of its members.
“Most of the firearms were bought individually, and whether the MILF could force them to surrender those firearms remain to be seen,” Cerveza said.
“In the eventthe regulars surrender their firearms, these people can always buy weapons without the sanction of the hierarchy.”