THE Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) is poised to investigate the alleged anomalies in the distribution of the P100,000-cash grant for Muslim rebel returnees.
In a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification, and Reconciliation, Senator Jinggoy Estrada said he received reports that one-half of the P100,000 aid for rebel returnees from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were allegedly given to commanders.
Estrada, chairman of the committee, said he got this information from former MILF rebels themselves.
“This government shall not tolerate any act of corruption or irregular transactions, more so those that undermine the well-being of our MILF brothers and sisters,” Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a statement.
Galvez said such “isolated incidents will be investigated, and will be brought to the attention of the” MILF leadership.
MILF peace panelist Mahajirin Ali told Estrada’s panel that they were still validating the report, adding that their group does not tolerate such illegal practice.
The former MILF combatants alleged that their commanders get a 50-percent cut from the P100,000 grant due them.
Estrada and the OPAPRU chief also advised the complainants to submit their sworn statements of affidavits to the Senate to formalize their complaints that will serve as the basis for the conduct of a formal investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, Cesar Yano, chairman of the government peace panel, said he already brought up this concern to his Muslim counterpart, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal.
In the same hearing, Bangsamoro Parliament Deputy Speaker Lanang Ali Jr. said the MILF was fully committed to completing the decommissioning of its combatants before the conduct of the first regular elections in the BARMM.
Ali said under the leadership of Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, “all MILF decommissioned combatants will turn into a social movement.”
He said the decommissioned combatants will automatically become members of the political party known as the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) and actively participate in the 2025 regional elections.
On Feb. 17, the UBJP invited all decommissioned MILF combatants to their first Regional general assembly, which signalled the start of their preparations for next year’s elections.
“We are targeting 100-percent [MILF decommissioning] by 2025 so that they can be clothed as legal [personalities] to participate in the 2025 elections,” he said.
As this developed, Galvez said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed them to ensure that the first regular elections for the BARMM scheduled for May next year would be “peaceful and orderly.”
Galvez expressed confidence that this can be done as he saw the commitment of the MILF to the orderly conduct of elections, as proven by the generally peaceful barangay elections in the region in October 2023.
“If we agree [that] we work hard to make the elections very peaceful, it can happen. We are very confident with the commitment of the MILF right now, the leadership of the Chief Minister, and also with the [MILF] Central Committee and the whole BARMM government,” Galvez said. Vince Lopez
