LAMITAN, BASILAN — Some 97 Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) combatants participated in the verification and socio-economic profiling process on July 4, 2024 in this island-province.

The verification and profiling process is part of the MNLF Transformation Program currently implemented by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) through the agreed terms of the GPH-MNLF Management Committee.

The said program is designed to uplift the socio-economic conditions of combatants, their families and communities and is among the commitments made by the national government under the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF.

On September 30, 2023, the OPAPRU launched the MNLF Transformation Program in Basilan wherein For Hundred Sixty (460) combatants completed the validation, verification and socio-economic profiling process.

The peace agency aims to complete the profiling of all the remaining MNLF combatants in the province who are among the target beneficiaries for fiscal year 2023.

Strengthened implementation

In 2023, a total of 1,705 MNLF combatants were profiled in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Cotabato City, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and North Cotabato.

Spearheaded by the agency’s MNLF Peace Process Office led by Director Jana Gallardo, the verification and profiling process is among the first steps that would qualify MNLF members to be part of the Transformation Program.

“Ang aming pagbabalik dito sa Basilan ay isang patunay ng pangako ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas na maisakatuparan ang 1996 Final Peace Agreement lalo na ang usaping socioeconomic na tutulong upang mapataas ang antas ng pamumuhay ng mga MNLF combatants, kanilang pamilya at komunidad at magsilbing kontribusyon ng GPH-MNLF Peace Process sa pangmatagalang kapayapaan sa Bangsamoro,” Gallardo stressed.

The MNLF Transformation Program seeks to help MNLF combatants make the successful transition into productive, empowered and self-reliant individuals, and empower them as agents of peace and development.

The program has four major components: security, socio-economic, confidence-building, and community healing and reconciliation.

Under the socio-economic component, MNLF combatants, their families and communities will receive initial assistance such as social protection assistance consisting of Immediate financial cash assistance, health insurance (Philhealth), civil registration assistance (birth certificate/ marriage certificate), as well as special assistance (combatants with disabilities including their families).

Commitment of support and cooperation

“We are committed to working together to develop programs that will empower you and your families to become productive members of our society,” said Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay in his message read by his executive assistant Noel Baul during the program to resume the verification and socio-economic profiling process.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) USec. Alan Tanjusay, led the distributed food packs to the MNLF combatants.

In his message, Tanjusay noted: “Ang transformation program ay isang vehikulo ng ating pamahalaan na kung saan nagkakaisa, pinapakita ng MNLF at ng gobyerno ang pagkakaisa at simulan ang tunay na pagbabago.”

“Kami po ay nag-uusap ng OPAPRU at nag-papartner upang ipatupad ang Transformation Program. Sana ay i-welcome ninyo ang OPAPRU at DSWD sa inyong communities kapag kami po ay bumisita sa inyo at mangumusta at makihalubilo sa inyo…Sana ay patuloy po ang inyong pagbigay tiwala sa DSWD sa pagpatuloy ng Transformation Program,” he added.

“Hopefully we pray that in the long run, with the full support and as we stand together in unity as brothers we can achieve success and progress in the entire region in general and in Basilan,” said Awad Hamid, Co-Chairperson for Socio-economic Committee, MNLF Management Committee representing MNLF Management Committee Chair, Uttoh Salem Cutan.

Supporting the OPAPRU in the implementation of the Transformation Program is the Mindanao State University (MSU) Systems, which is conducting the profiling and debriefing process of combatants, and the Philippine Statistics Office, which is providing assistance to beneficiaries in securing their civil registration and Philippine national I.D.

Last July 1, the firearms of 97 MNLF combatants underwent the verification process facilitated by the Joint Body on Management of Arms and Forces composed of representatives from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and the Moro National Liberation Front.

OPAPRU is set to complete the profiling of the remaining MNLF members in Lanao del Sur at the end of July this year and will ramp up the implementation of the Transformation Program in other MNLF communities across the Bangsamoro Region. ###