Lanao del Norte 1st District Rep. Khalid Dimaporo is worried that the Philippine government's credibility in the peace process might suffer if it fails to ensure that all secessionist rebels who want to join the national police force won't get accommodated.
Dimaporo aired this concern Monday during a virtual briefing of the House Committee on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity.
“I'm from Lanao del Norte so I hear the rumors going around. What we want to mitigate is misinformation. Because in the BOL (Bangsamoro Organic Law), it provides an option – lahat ng mga MILF (all Moro Islamic Liberation Front) combatants can join the police. That's there,” he said.
Dimaporo then brought up a key detail that he learned during last week's virtual hearing of the Mindanao Affairs committee: only 3,000 out of the estimated 40,000 secessionist rebels can be accommodated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) next year due to budgetary constraints.
“If these 40,000 combatants that are going to be decommissioned are expecting to join the PNP, and they cannot be accommodated, problema yan (that will be a problem). The credibility of the government will be questioned,” said Dimaporo.
The BOL paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The region is undergoing a transition phase, and the decommissioning of the rebels is a vital part of the so-called normalization track.
As per the original plan, the transition is supposed to be completed by May 2022, or by the end of the Duterte administration.
But Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Marjorie Jalosjos told the Peace Reconciliation, and Unity panel that they have yet to finalize the guideline on the recruitment of the rebels to the PNP.
“Currently, we are now finalizing the draft guidelines on the policing in BARMM to include the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) and MILF (accommodation) in PNP,” she said.
Asked by panel chairman and Maguindanao Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu on what has caused the delay, Jalosjos said they have to wait on the comments BARMM, PNP, and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) officials.
“We will be having our next meeting on Thursday and by Friday, makaka-submit po kami (we will be able to submit by then),” Jalosjos assured Mangudadatu.
Dimaporo chairs the Mindanao Affairs panel. It was OPAPP Assitant Secretary Wilben Mayor who told him Wednesday that the government’s budget for 2021 is only good for 3,000 rebel-recruits.