Brunei vows to continue backing Mindanao peace process

BRUNEI-MUARA, Brunei—The Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) has vowed to continue participating in Mindanao’s peacekeeping operations, with RBAF considering sending more permanent representatives to oversee the transformation of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters into peace-loving citizens.

RBAF Commander Major General Mohd Tawih Abdullah said the RBAF will not rule out the possibility of sending more permanent representatives to join the International Decommissioning Board (IDB) should the peacekeeping process continue to work well.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of RBAF’s 55th anniversary celebration yesterday, he said the RBAF currently has one permanent representative in the IDB.

‪The IDB is a mechanism established by the Philippines government and MILF peace negotiating panel that are tasked to oversee the decommissioning of MILF weaponry and combatants.

The decommissioning of MILF weaponry is part of the normalization process towards the establishment of the Bangsamoro government in southern Philippines, which will be conducted in gradual phases.

Mohd Tawih said the normalization process is still in progress and that the process is time consuming due to certain procedures, namely the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that has not been passed by the Philippine Senate.

The BBL is an agreement that aims to promote peace in Mindanao and if passed into law, the BBL will eliminate the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and in its place will be a new autonomous political entity named Bangsamoro.

“I think that the peacekeeping process will not run smoothly if the bill is not passed (but) nevertheless, Brunei will remain committed towards IDB,” he said.

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