LAST August 16, Ahod ‘Al Haj Murad’ Ebrahim, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Central Committee Chairman, issued a memorandum reaffirming the leadership’s earlier decision that “temporarily suspended” further demobilization (‘decommissioning’) of its remaining armed troops.
Ebrahim is the first Acting Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BARMM) since its creation in January 2019 until his resignation last March.
As the MILF framed the narrative, it is once again, the perfidious, ‘Imperial Manila’ that is to blame for reneging on its side of the peace agreement both parties signed in March 2014, the fine prints of which were spelled out under RA 11054 (Bangsamoro Basic Law) signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018.
Demobilization is, of course, at the root of the GRP-MILF peace agreement. The number quoted by both sides said there remain 14,000 MILF fighters to be decommissioned while 26,145 MILF fighters have already turned in their guns, from the MILF’s purported inventory of 40,000 soldiers.
An Inquirer report quoted Ebrahim as saying, “not a single one has successfully undergone transition to productive civilian life” as combatants were only given P100,000 for each weapon handed over.
RA 11054 essentially gave the MILF a free hand to run things in BARMM thru the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), an executive body that is under their effective control.
Are the MILF top leaders, already comfortable and personally profiting from their present exalted posts, fearful their monopoly hold on power would end? Surely, there is more than meet the eyes in this issue. Power, absolute and exclusive, is what it is all about.
The law also provided an annual “block grant” to the BTA, consisting of 5 percent of the net national government revenue and P5 billion in special development fund (SDF) for the next 10 years.
Unless the venerable Ebrahim has forgotten, the SDF is specifically set aside to ensure that each combatant can “successfully transition to productive civilian life,” as he puts it.
As of 2024, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said total GRP support to BARMM totaled P337.53 billion, with P70.5 billion given in 2023 and 2024 each year.
If indeed the GRP has absconded with the money allocated for BARMM as MILF leaders are now telling their members, they might as well confront BARMM Minister for Finance Ubaida Pacasem to clarify the issue.
The flood of money descending on BARMM has caused controversy immediately, from accusation of “stolen,” “missing” and “misappropriated” funds to the sudden “lavished” lifestyles of some MILF/BARMM officials.
Given these facts, it would be worth the while, particularly in the ranks of the MILF, to ponder if what their leaders are telling them about the need to stop demobilization—the GRP simply cannot be trusted—is the unburnished truth?
When Ebrahim stepped down to be replaced by former MILF Chief of Staff, Abdulraof Macacua, noticeable was the grumblings from the group of MILF vice chair Datukan ‘Mohagher Iqbal’ Abas, head of the MILF peace panel who successfully negotiated the peace agreement with the GRP in 2014.
In his mind, who is “better” to succeed Ebrahim than him? Has personal ambition been clouding his mind lately?
The first BARMM parliamentary election will be held this October, a democratic process that would allow groups other than the MILF to participate.
Are the MILF top leaders, already comfortable and personally profiting from their present exalted posts, fearful their monopoly hold on power would end?
Surely, there is more than meets the eyes in this issue. Power, absolute and exclusive, is what it is all about.