Catholic prelate lauds the decommissioning effort of MILF

MANILA -- A Mindanao prelate has welcomed the decommissioning efforts of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as part of the agreement of the government and the MILF contained under the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). I welcome the gesture that it will really materialize. I hope also that they will really surrender not only the old firearms but as well as the new and expensive firearms,” said Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad.At the same time, he said he is hoping that the group is sincere with the decommissioning. In the past, they did not surrender everything. They only surrendered the old ones the new ones are being kept so my hope is that they would be sincere in this decommissioning,” the Catholic prelate added.Asked on what should the MILF do to show their sincerity, aside from surrendering their arms, Jumoad said, They have to surrender also the firearms of those victims of the Mamasapano incident. I believe hindi pa nila nabigay.”Government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer has said the decommissioning and return of the group’s fighters to civilian life will begin on Tuesday. (PNA)