COTABATO CITY, (PNA) — When 145 fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) decided to give up their arms with President Aquino in attendance, one of them was happy and emotional.
She was Zubayra Macatanong, wife of one of the combatants who decided to “sacrifice” in the name of peace in Mindanao.
Early this week, the MILF, in compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) decommissioned 75 high powered firearms and deactivate 145 members.
Macatanong displayed a figure of a supportive wife during the decommissioning process at the old provincial capitol in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
“I strongly support my husband’s decision,” the 45-year-old Macatanong said.
The ceremony, attended by President Benigno Aquino, top officials of the government and the MILF and local and international peace advocates, was part of the normalization component of the peace agreement.
The decommissioning came despite uncertainty about the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). It is still pending before the Senate and House of Representatives.
According to Macatanong, the decommissioning was an indication that peace was dawning in Mindanao.
“I am convinced that this signals the beginning of peace in Muslim Mindanao. This is good news as I think, after all the wars, we also deserve peace,” she said.
Speaking to reporters, Macatanong recalled that as a young child from Lanao del Sur, she has experienced the cruelty of war in her homeland. She could not recall the number of wars that forced her and her nine children to flee to safer grounds.
Macatanong said the Bangsamoro people deserve peace just like her sisters and brothers non-Muslims.
“War forced us to flee,” she said, stressing that war is always cruel to the poor, especially to farmers.
But the most painful experience about war was losing people you love. “Not only did we lose our homes. I also lost some members of my family.”
Arba Solaiman, wife of another deactivated 50-year-old MILF fighter, said at first she prevented her husband from deactivating but later gave the green light after she was fully informed of the purpose.
Her husband had been waging war for the past 30 years.
Arba said while her husband was an MILF fighter, she did not want her children to follow the footsteps of their father.
So she tried hard to send her children to school and move somewhere while the father continue the struggle.
Now her twon sons are police officers in Quezon City while her daughter is now working overseas.
During the ceremony, the families of the MILF fighters were comforted by the message of MILF Chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
“The decommissioning of our members and turnover of weapons is the proclamation of our commitment to peace, not by words, but by actions,” he said.
“I see 145 stories of struggle, of pain, of hopelessness, and even of death. Yet I also see 145 stories of hope and faith that indeed peace is near and that all sacrifices have been worth it,” Murad added.
President Aquino said the decommissioning showed the trust of MILF to the Philippine government – despite the uncertainly of the fate of the BBL at the hands of the Filipino lawmakers.
“This is the truth — our brothers and sisters in the Bangsamoro are not asking for something unreasonable; what they want – a decent and peaceful life – what every Filipino desires,” Murad said.
The families of the decommissioned fighters will receive ‘socio-economic development assistance’ from the government.
Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Regioon in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) lauded the MILF for being committed to the establishing peace in Mindanao.
“This is the act of peace, the show of sincerity in the peace process that we have all been waiting for from the MILF and the government” he said.