Philippines' OPAPRU Seeks Additional P14 Billion to Aid Decommissioned MILF Combatants
Key Takeaways
- •The Philippine presidential peace adviser says an extra P14 billion is required to strengthen the decommissioning and normalization process for former MILF fighters in the BARMM.
- •The funding would improve socioeconomic benefits for 14,000 former MILF-BIAF combatants, who are each supposed to receive P1 million covering cash assistance, study grants, skills training, and social protection.
- •The current package fails to serve former combatants older than 50, offering general assistance such as TESDA training that older beneficiaries may not be able to use.
- •OPAPRU has already met with the MILF-BIAF to propose a more responsive benefits package.
- •Senate President Sherwin T. Gatchalian said the government must honor its commitments to groups like the MILF-BIAF, but any additional allocation still requires inclusion in the annual national budget passed by Congress.
MANILA — An additional P14 billion is needed to improve the decommissioning and normalization process for former combatants in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippine presidential peace adviser Mel Senen S. Sarmiento said on Tuesday.
Mr. Sarmiento, the presidential adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, said the additional funding will be used to improve socioeconomic packages for 14,000 former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (MILF-BIAF), the armed wing of the MILF.
Under the current program, each decommissioned MILF-BIAF combatant is supposed to receive P1 million in socioeconomic benefits, a package consisting of immediate cash assistance, study grants, skills training, and social protection. The assistance is intended to help decommissioned fighters rebuild livelihoods and reintegrate into civilian life as the normalization process advances.
Mr. Sarmiento said the existing package does not align with the needs of former combatants above 50 years old. It provides only general assistance that older beneficiaries may not be able to use, such as training under the Technical Education and Skills Development (TESDA) program, he added.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) has already met with the MILF-BIAF to propose a more responsive package, Mr. Sarmiento said.
At a Senate budget hearing, Senate President Sherwin T. Gatchalian said the government cannot renege on its agreement with groups like the MILF-BIAF, though he noted that P14 billion is a large amount. Mr. Sarmiento has presented a proposal to the committee in an executive meeting, which Mr. Gatchalian said will be sent as a position paper. Any additional allocation would still need to be carried in the annual national budget passed by Congress.
The funding request relates to the normalization track of the peace agreement between the Philippine government and the MILF, the country's largest Muslim armed group, which waged a decades-long insurgency before signing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in 2014. The accord's normalization component provides for the phased decommissioning of MILF fighters and their weapons, a process overseen by the Independent Decommissioning Body that began with a first ceremonial round in 2015. The peace process underpinned the creation of the BARMM in 2019, when the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law replaced the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The normalization track carries the accord's central commitment that fighters who lay down their weapons will be supported in returning to civilian life.
— Francessca S. Abalos, reporting for BusinessWorld
