PEACE UPDATE: Government of the Philippines (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Panels Discuss and Formalize Bodies and Mechanisms that will Roll Out Normalization Process

KUALA LUMPUR – As Congress tackles the Bangsamoro bill for swift passage into law, the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels met Saturday in the Malaysian capital to discuss and formalize the bodies and mechanisms that will roll out the normalization process. "The normalization process will be implemented simultaneously with the political process," GPH chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said at the start of the three-day special meeting that is expected to end on Monday, Sept. 29. According to the chief negotiator, the Parties welcomed the three foreign experts who will sit in the International Decommissioning Body (IDB) which shall oversee the process of decommissioning of MILF forces and weapons. These are Major Muhammad Aiman Syazwi Bin Haji Abdul Rahim from Brunei, Ambassador Haydar Berk from Turkey, and Jan Erik Wilhemsen from Norway. The Panels are expected to jointly nominate four local experts to complete the seven-member body. "‎We thank the governments of Brunei, Turkey and Norway for providing us with the valuable services of their respective experts. Decommissioning is a delicate and difficult component of any peace settlement. It must be done effectively and sensitively. It is an affirmative support to the normalization process and will contribute to advancing collective security in the future Bangsamoro region and the country as a whole,”‎ Coronel-Ferrer said.‎ The IDB shall perform functions that include the conduct of inventory, verification and validation of Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) members, arms and weapons; develop and implement a schedule of decommissioning of BIAF forces; plan, design, and implement techniques and technologies for weapons collection or retrieval, transport, and storage and putting weapons beyond use in accordance with the ‎agreement of the Parties; and report on the progress of its work and submit its report to the GPH and MILF Panels. ‎Aside from the IDB, the two other bodies integral to the normalization process include the Joint Normalization Committee which will coordinate the different normalization processes and mechanisms; and the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) which will undertake a study and recommend to the panels the appropriate mechanisms for transitional justice and reconciliation. ‎The JNC is co-chaired by Undersecretary Zenonida F. Brosas for the GPH and Muhammad Nassif for the MILF. GPH members include MGen. Ariel B. Bernardo (Ret) and MGen. Leo Cresente M. Ferrer (Ret) while MILF members include ‎Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo and Atty. Blo Adiong.‎ Dir Susan Guadalupe Marcaida and Toks Ebrahim will co-head the Secretariat of the JNC. Meanwhile, the TJRC was officially convened on the first day of the meeting. The Swiss Government upon request of the Panels provided the international expert, Madame Mo Bleeker, who will serve as chair of the TJRC. For the GPH, the TJRC representative is Atty Cecilia Jimenez, while for the MILF, the TJRC representative is Atty Ishak Mastura. The TJRC is preparing to hold two events in early October in Cotabato City and in Manila to introduce the TJRC to the public and begin the process of consultations. The TJRC is tasked to study and recommend to the Panels the appropriate mechanisms to address legitimate grievances of the Bangsamoro people, historical injustices, and human rights violations and marginalization towards healing and reconciliation. - See more at: http://www.opapp.gov.ph/milf/news/gph-milf-formalize-normalization-bodies#sthash.uqhO4Dsg.dpuf