The remains of slain police commandos arrive in Manila on Thursday (Photo by Rudy Rabulan)
Days after the deaths of at least 49 people in a bungled police raid against suspected terrorists in the southern Philippines, the government and rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have agreed on a protocol to decommission rebel arms.
In a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, government and MILF peace negotiators agreed to a general framework of how rebel firearms will be surrendered and be “kept and put beyond use".
"It will be a long process," MILF peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told ucanews.com in an interview that preceded the announcement.
Iqbal said the MILF is ready to undergo the decommissioning process and is set to turnover an initial 75 high-powered firearms in a largely symbolic ceremony.
The decommissioning process will involve an "international decommissioning body" that will verify the current inventory of firearms.
The MILF will also submit a list of areas where their forces are deployed, while the government will identify where and how the firearms will be kept and put beyond use.
Neither side announced a specific deadline or timetable for the protocol, which was agreed to before Sunday’s violence. But it is nevertheless a symbolic move in a long-stalled peace process in the southern Philippine region.
The decommissioning of MILF combatants and their weapons are among the provisions of the peace deal that the government and the rebels signed in March last year.
Sunday’s police raid, which resulted in the deaths of at least 44 police commandos, has become a pressing national issue in the Philippines and has raised fears that it could threaten the fragile peace process.
Iqbal said in a statement Thursday that both the government and the MILF “reaffirmed their commitment to peace that has long eluded Mindanao”.
Peace negotiators from both sides also issued a statement from Kuala Lumpur expressing their support for investigations into Sunday’s bloodbath.
In Manila, religious leaders on Friday called for a "transparent and impartial" investigation into the death of the police commandos.
"The circumstances and causes of this horrendous tragedy are still to be clearly unraveled," noted Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, archbishop of Cotabato.
Reverend Ephraim Fajutagana, chairman of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, said church leaders “are not content” with descriptions of the tragedy as simply being what he termed a “misencounter”.
"We want to know why the ceasefire arrangements with the MILF were not respected and why those with command responsibility were not able to ensure the security of so many of our [policemen] who lost their lives," said the Protestant leader.
Bishop Efraim Tendero, head of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, said those who are responsible should be brought to justice. He said that should include whoever planned and sanctioned the operation and the personnel on the ground who pulled the trigger — whether they be from the police or the rebels.
Also on Friday, MILF chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim warned against rampant speculation.
"Until what happened is established with credibility and integrity, the said incident will pull down our current efforts to bring peace to our homeland," he said.
The rebel leader has ordered the formation of a special investigative body "to gather as much reliable information and interview witnesses to establish the truth".
"We hereby reiterate the MILF's full commitment to the peace process with the Philippine government. An enduring peace and justice remain … our primary objective," Ebrahim said.