By Froilan Gallardo
Special Correspondent
MARAWI City — Not all are rooting for an extension of the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA).
At a small gathering here in Marawi City, mujahedeen or fighters of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the armed wing of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front openly aired their gripes on the peace process.
“Those who have benefited now are not genuine fighters of the MILF. They are technocrats who have not dirtied their hands for the revolution,” said “Tano,” a 55-year-old BIAF fighter.
Another mujahedeen fighter, “Aisha,” a 42-year-old veteran said, “ I patiently brewed coffee for the fighters so they have warm stomachs during the fighting but now I was told I have no job under the Barmm.”
These are common complaints among the 40,000-strong BIAF of the MILF, which officials of the government and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) admit has become a problem.
Ariel Hernandez, the co-chair of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Joint Normalization Division, said they are looking at the problem with growing concern.
“This is a problem that should be addressed by the MILF leadership. We cannot intrude on this problem otherwise the MIL would accuse us of interfering with their problem,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said aside from that, the MILF leadership had to contend with the issue of extension of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.
The Bangsamoro parliament had requested the Philippine Congress to extend BTA until 2025 to allow further time to transition.
Hernandez said the issue of decommissioning the MILF fighters and their firearms are among those not yet resolve.
He said under phase 2 of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed between the MILF and government in 2014, 12,000 fighters or 30 percent of the rebel forces and their firearms were decommissioned.
Hernandez said Phase three would see the final stage of decommissioning of MILF fighters and their firearms.
“This is one of the contentious issues. The MILF told us they will surrender only 7,000 firearms and we do not agree to that,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said the government wanted that a firearm should be decommissioned for each of the 40,000 MILF fighters.
Bangsamoro Minister of the Interior and Local Government Naguib Sinarimbo declined to reply on the issue on the demobilization preferring that the MILF should answer them.
Sinarimbo, however, said MILF fighters should understand that Barmm is not only for them but for every resident.
He said administering Barmm requires different skill sets and expertise for it to succeed.
“The skill sets and expertise needed are different from those of the fighters carrying rifles,” Sinarimbo said.
He said MILF should understand there are two sides to the peace process — the normalization process and the establishment of Barmm.
Sinarimbo said the complaints of the MILF fighters can be addressed by the normalization process which provided an economic package for their return to normal lives.
“The MILF leaders have continuous meetings with the fighters to explain these but these issues continue to crop up,” he said.
Abel Moya, director of Pakigdait, an NGO, said they have conducted meetings with the MILF fighters in Lanao del Sur and have heard these complaints.
He said they have also tried to explain to the fighters that “not all of them with be entitled to the spoils of the peace dividend.”
“There is another skill set needed for running a government. They maybe were good fighters but they can not become good auditors and technicians,” Moya said.
