The government is eyeing to complete disarming of former rebels before the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARRM) election takes place in May 2025.

In an ambush interview following the post-SONA briefing in Pasay City on Wednesday, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) announced the MILF's commitment for the continued decommissioning of firearms.

"We have decommissioned more or less 24,600 and we still have remaining 15,300. Our timeline is once we finished the decommissioning (process) of 1,500 this coming August 3, we still have to decommission 14,000 (remaining firearms). Our timeline is before the BARMM election hopefully we will be able to finish all the 14,000," he said.

"More or less 7,000 (will be decommissioned) in 2024, another 7,000 in 2025, it will be completed before the 2025 election actually way earlier because the target during the first BARMM election in 2025 the decommissioning will be completed," he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law on October 28, 2021 postponing the first BARMM regular election from May 2023 to 2025.

The decommissioning of MILF and MNLF combatants is part of the government's peace agreement signed in 2014. Robina Asido/DMS