
Officers and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (BIAF-MILF) who will engage in activities that disrupt peace and order will be terminated from the group.
The Department of National Defense (DND) confirmed this on Tuesday, Sept. 2, as it welcomed the issuance of Memorandum No. 25-2023 by the BIAF-MILF which strongly cautions the latter’s members against engaging in activities that will spoil peace and order “at the expense of the civilian populace.”
DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said that the memorandum dated August 18, 2023 was issued by BIAF-MILF Chief of Staff Sammy Al Mansoor.
The memorandum denounced the involvement in conflicts by the BIAF-MILF's members arising from family feuds and/or political rivalries, and warned of automatic termination from the roster of the group if they are found guilty of involvement in such activities, he stated.
“The directive manifests the commitment of the MILF leadership to upholding and sustaining the Bangsamoro peace process and its attendant mechanisms. This move by the BIAF-MILF, likewise, allows the security sector to stay on track in the implementation of peace and development programs, especially in Mindanao,” Andolong said.
He added that the DND, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its partners, will continue to collaborate with and support the Bangsamoro Government in attaining and maintaining genuine and lasting peace in the region.
Combatants of the MILF, one of the biggest Islamic groups that seek an autonomous region for the Moro people in the country, are undergoing decommissioning process so they could be disarmed and make a successful transition to civilian life after the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019. Its armed wing is called the BIAF.
The decommissioning process is among the key provisions of the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement forged between the Philippine government and MILF in 2014.