By Teofilo P. Garcia Jr.
COTABATO CITY, June 15 (PNA) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 6th Infantry Division extolled the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the decommissioning of its combatants and heavy weapons.
Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, said the decommissioning, which is scheduled to take place Tuesday, was a great sacrifice on the part of the MILF.
The decommissioning is part of the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) the government and the MILF signed last year.
President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is expected to witness the decommissioning program.
The President will be joined by Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles, government chief negotiator Professor Mariam Coronel-Ferrer and other high ranking Cabinet and military officials.
Pangilinan said the decommissioning of the 175 MILF members would take place in the midst of threats caused by the presence of other groups in Maguindanao and the nearby provinces.
The decommissioning of the MILF members will start with a turnover Tuesday of an initial batch of heavy weapons–55 high-powered and 20 crew-serve–in Maguindao.
Despite the threats, Pangilinan said the MILF has showed its resolve to pursue their untiring quest for peace and development in the Bangsamoro by allowing the process of decommissioning to take place.
Pangilinan said such gesture was highly commendable.
He said the MILF’s sincerity would certainly give rise to the creation of peaceful and sustainably-developed communities in the Bangsamoro areas.
He also called on the Bangsamoro residents to rally behind the scheduled decommissioning.
“Let us all show our support to this momentous event. The peace process has already gone up to a higher status, from talks in negotiating table up to the retiring of the weapons of devastation that greatly affected the Bangsamoro communities,” he said. (PNA)