PASAY CITY – Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., on Tuesday, February 20, said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), which oversees the implementation of the country’s comprehensive peace process, does not condone any anomaly in the implementation of the decommissioning process for former combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Galvez made this statement after three decommissioned MILF combatants aired their complaints to Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and Galvez before the conduct of the Senate hearing on the decommissioning process called for by the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace Unification and Reconciliation.

Estrada and Galvez advised the complainants to submit an affidavit to the Senate to formalize their allegations and state their specific claims, which will serve as basis for the conduct of a formal investigation into the matter.

“This government shall not tolerate any act of corruption or irregular transactions, moreso those that undermine the well-being of our MILF brothers and sisters. Rest assured that this isolated incident will be thoroughly investigated, and will be brought to the attention of the MILF leadership,” Galvez said.

During the hearing, Engineer Mahajirin Ali, MILF’s Peace Implementing Panel Secretariat, emphasized that the MILF leadership will never tolerate such illicit acts.

“’Yun po, continuously, vina-validate namin. Worried din po kami kung sakaling ganoon ang arrangement. Kasi, very clear sa decommissioning na ang lahat na weapons na ide-decommission ay organizationally-owned po na from MILF,” Ali explained.

“Hindi po pwede na pakialaman ng mga commanders ‘yung mga in-extend na interventions especially ‘yung cash. We will be very happy kung ma-provide kami ng detalye regarding this concern dahil definitely, the leadership of the MILF will not tolerate ‘yung mga ganoong practice at ma-sa-subject sa disciplinary action ‘yung mga commanders na ganoon ang ginagawa,” he stressed.

“Hindi ko lang alam to what extent ‘yung ganoong practice but again, we’ll be very happy to receive the report. And we could also validate it internally within the MILF hierarchy,” Ali added.

For his part, Cesar Yano, Government of the Philippines’ peace implementing panel chair, said he already brought up this concern to his counterpart, BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal.

“I already brought this up to Minister Iqbal in one of our recent private meetings. He committed to mention this concern with the MILF leadership,” Yano said.

“Ginagawa niya po ang paraan na. Ipinapaabot niya po sa mga commanders po niya. As to the progress po, I really hope na totally, matanggal po ito. It’s good na binanggit niyo po ito. I-pu-push ko pa kay Min. Iqbal pa ito,” he added.

Gov’t, MILF target completion of decommissioning of MILF forces before 2025 election

In the same hearing, Bangsamoro Parliament Deputy Speaker Lanang T. Ali, Jr. said the MILF is fully committed to complete the decommissioning of its combatants before the conduct of the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Ali said that under the leadership of Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, “all MILF decommissioned combatants from our movement will turn into a social movement.”

He said that 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.

Ali shared that last February 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 were able to gather more than twenty-six thousand UBJP members. The MILF is now in their direction of participating [in] the 2025 elections,” he said.

Ali emphasized that their members need to be decommissioned so that they can be part of the social movement.

“We are targeting 100% [MILF decommissioning] by 2025 so that they can be clothed as legal personali[ties] to participate in the 2025 elections,” he said.

President’s guidance on peaceful and credible BARMM elections

Galvez emphasized the directive given by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. regarding the first regular elections to be held in the Bangsamoro region.

“The President has given us directives that the first BARMM elections should be peaceful and also orderly,” he said.

During the oath-taking of the new members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) in August 2022, President Marcos urged the BTA to pass the Electoral Code, as well as remaining legislative measures within the extended transition period.

The President reiterated this directive again during the 17th meeting of the Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) on February 8, this year.

He called on Bangsamoro officials present during the meeting to respect the sanctity of the democratic process in the region, saying, “Giving the vote to the people to choose their leaders is the logical follow-up to the grant of self-rule to your land.”

The President urged them to make this first election a success, saying, “Show the whole world that it is peaceful and credible.”

According to Galvez, he has seen the commitment of the MILF to the orderly conduct of elections, as evidenced by the generally peaceful barangay elections in the BARMM in October 2023.

“Thankfully, during the barangay elections, the MILF commanders delivered their message. They were not involved in any atrocities that happened during the elections,” he said.

Galvez said that the successful conduct of the barangay elections in the BARMM proved the MILF’s steadfast commitment in ensuring peace and security during the 2025 regional elections, emphasizing that “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,” he said.

Galvez is optimistic that the first regional elections will be a success, saying, “We’re very hopeful that the BARMM elections will be very peaceful so it’s a work in progress.”

Decommissioning in numbers

The decommissioning process is among the key provisions of the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement forged between the government and MILF in 2014, which aims to help former MILF combatants make the successful transition to civilian life.

To date, a total of 26,132 MILF combatants and 4,625 firearms have been decommissioned from 2015 to 2023 under phases 1 to 3.

The first phase of decommissioning was held in 2015 wherein 145 MILF members and 75 of their weapons were decommissioned. The second phase was held in 2019 which saw the decommissioning of 12,000 MILF-BIAF members and 2,100 of their weapons. The third phase saw the decommissioning of 13,987 MILF-BIAF members and 2,450 of their weapons.

The remaining MILF combatants and their weapons are set to be decommissioned by during the fourth and final phase in 2025.

The decommissioning process is being handled by the Independent Decommissioning Body, one of the mechanisms created by the Government of the Philippines and the MILF as part of the Annex on Normalization of the CAB.

It is composed of representatives from the Governments of Turkey, Norway, Kingdom of Brunei, as well as local experts nominated by the GPH and MILF peace implementing panels.

OPAPRU’s response to COA Audit findings

Meanwhile, the OPAPRU, under the leadership of Galvez, is implementing stringent measures to resolve unliquidated cash advances in compliance with Commission on Audit (COA) Circular 2016-002.

“All concerned officials and employees have been instructed to comply with the liquidation of cash advances as per COA guidelines. To ensure compliance, the agency has been regularly issuing demand letters and implementing salary deductions for accountable individuals,” Galvez explained when asked during the hearing about the COA report.

He pointed out that a significant portion of the agency’s unliquidated cash advances, totaling Php 38.6 million, dates back to 2015.

“Cases have been filed with the Office of the Ombudsman against former officials who acted as Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs), but are no longer with the agency. One case has resulted in an employee’s dismissal,” Galvez bared.

He added that the OPAPRU has likewise imposed salary deductions from accountable SDOs. As of December 2023, Php 10.4 million, or 87% of the Php 12 million unliquidated cash advances, has been liquidated, leaving a Php 1.6 million balance.

“The agency aims to close pending unliquidated cash advances by the second quarter, except for cases under Other Receivables. A Notice of Suspension has been issued for FY 2017 and 2018 transactions due to some missing documents,” Galvez said.

He noted that of the total Php 4.2 billion for FY 2017 and 2018, Php 3,285,569,000 has been liquidated. The Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) National Program Management Office is conducting an inventory, expected to conclude by February 28, 2024. These projects were implemented prior to the term of Sec Galvez.

“The OPAPRU remains committed to upholding integrity and transparency in all its financial transactions, ensuring the judicious and responsible use of public funds, which have been entrusted to us by the Filipino people,” Galvez said. ###