"The
MILF must surrender all the weapons, equipment, and personal belongings of the Philippine National Police -- Special Action Forces, 44 of whom perished in their operation to get Jemaah Islamiyah bomb maker Zulkifli Bin Hir (Abdhir) alias Marwan in Pidsawan village, Mamasapano, central Mindanao last January 25," Rodriguez said.
Grace Poe Llamanzares invited Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the
MILF group's peace panel, but he declined to appear at the hearing.
Eid Kabalu, spokesman for the country's main Muslim separatist group that has been waging an armed struggle mostly in Mindanao, said the
MILF is also open to U.S.-mediated negotiation if only to put on track the scuttled process where Malaysia has served as a mediator.
Galvez said a total of 1,026
MILF forces and 920 firearms are scheduled to be decommissioned during the ceremony.
79, which would hasten normalization under the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the
MILF.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, yesterday, asked the presence of
MILF Peace Negotiator Chairman Mohaquer Iqbal to "for a show of sincerity" in the pursuit of justice.
"The decommissioning of the
MILF is part of the Annex on Normalisation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro," Coronel-Ferrer said, referring to a cluster of accords aimed at addressing concerns of the country's minority Muslim population in the South.
Ignacio Bunye, a spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said in an ABS News Channel interview that a meeting meant to explore resuming peace negotiations set for Friday in Malaysia between government and
MILF representatives will not happen.
Camp Lucero, the headquarters and training camp of the Philippine Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade in Carmen, North Cotabato, is where the 225 former
MILF rebels will spend a month to train with their erstwhile enemies beginning Thursday, August 1.
Galvez said each decommissioned
MILF fighter would be receiving P100,000 in cash once the foreign-led Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) had validated their identities.