MANILA - Some fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have started to drop their nom de guerre as they go through the decommissioning process under the Bangsamoro peace agreement, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said Saturday.

A number of decommissioned and non-decommissioned MILF combatants received their Certificates of Live Birth through the ‘Access to Legal Identity and Social Services for Decommissioned Combatants’ (ALIAS-DC) Project last Thursday in Camp Bilal in Munai, Lanao del Norte, the OPAPRU said.

• Decommissioning of MILF fighters resumes

“Sa pamamagitan ng proyektong ito, mabibigyang kilanlan ang ating mga kapatid na MILF. Dahil dito ay magkakaroon na sila kapasidad na magsagawa ng mga legal na transaksyon sa iba’t ibang ahensya ng gobyerno at makatanggap ng socio-economic assistance mula sa mga ito tulad ng Philhealth coverage, scholarship grants at marami pang iba,” said Acting Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Secretary Isidro Purisima, who attended the ceremonial distribution.

• From rebels to rulers, MILF faces new ‘struggle’ in Bangsamoro governance

ALIAS-DC will be rolled out in the six-acknowledged MILF camps in Lanao province, Maguindanao and Cotabato, and also covers the families of MILF combatants, and residents of MILF communities.

The project is being implemented by the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment Through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS) Program, with funding from the European Union, Australian Embassy in the Philippines, Japan, and The Asia Foundation.

Ten months since the launch of ALIAS-DC, IDEALS was already able to accommodate 35,665 civil registration applications, which is 112 percent of its 31,715 target, the OPAPRU said.

So far, 1,156 Certificates of Live Birth have been distributed since March of this year, it added.

According to former MILF Commander and now Member of the Parliament Abdullah Macapaar, previously known as Commander Bravo, his comrades who have acquired their Certificates of Live Birth can already live "normal and productive lives as members of civil society afterwards."

• 'Lack of opportunity' still hounds Moros almost a decade since peace pact
• Palace allows renegade commander to join new Bangsamoro gov't - MILF

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed in March 2014 between the Philippine government under the leadership of then-President Benigno Aquino III and the MILF, concluding 17 years of negotiations between the two parties.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was established as a result of the agreement.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Watch more News on iWantTFC