The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is all set to extend aid packages to decommissioned combatants (DCs) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

On August 26, 2019, the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) under the mechanism of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) has started the decommissioning activity for some 1,193 former MILF combatants at the Old Maguindanao Provincial Capitol, Barangay Simu-ay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

These DCs are expected to receive from the Department the Bangsamoro Transitory Family Support Package (BTFSP) and the Livelihood Settlement Grant (LSG) of P80,000 and P20,000 each, respectively, on September 7, 2019.

The BTFSP is composed of food subsidy and family, hygiene, kitchen, sleeping, and shelter kits while LSG may be used as seed capital to start micro-enterprises or to purchase starter kits for the re-establishment of damaged livelihood.

The aid packages form part of the Socio-Economic Program component provided for under Executive Order (EO) No. 79 which focuses on the Normalization Track of CAB signed on March 27, 2019. EO 79 aims to reintegrate decommissioned MILF combatants to mainstream society through provision of livelihood and other appropriate programs and services. It is the realization of the CAB which marked the end of 17 years of negotiations between the Philippine Government and the MILF, and provided a negotiated political settlement for the attainment of a just and lasting peace and development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

On August 9, 2019, DSWD and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) forged a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the implementation of the socio-economic programs for the decommissioned MILF combatants. The agreement formalized the P1.26 billion funding support of OPAPP to DSWD for this endeavor.

A total of 7,163 decommissioned combatants are expected to receive assistance from the government, through DSWD, for this year. -30-