A bill seeking to decommission women combatants is being pushed in the Bangsamoro Parliament, a Mindanao lawmaker said Wednesday.

Ishak Matsura, a member of the Bangsamoro Parliament, said Parliament Bill (PB) 292 or the Economic Empowerment of Former Bangsamoro Women Combatants Act of 2024 was filed this week.

Matsura said there were women who recruited as part of the police of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

“I have not seen too many women there, allthough there's now a bill being pushed, very new, just filed this week, about women combatants,” Mastura said at the launching of the study Reconstructing Masculinities: Gender Dynamics After Conflict in Aceh, Maluku, and Bangsamoro Mindanao.

“Why is it is important that there is also the decommissioning of women? Because…you have the identity as a beneficiary. The government helps you out, helps your family, gives you goods, entitlements,” he added.

PB 292 was approved on first reading in the Bangsamoro Parliament.

According to the parliament’s website, the measure “outlines various programs and interventions to support former women combatants so they can become active agents of peace and development in their communities”.

The programs included the in the bill are active citizenship, entrepreneurial leadership and management; skills training and development; access to financial resources and psychosocial services, among others.

Under the bill, a coordinating council will be created to ensure the effective implementation and monitoring of the programs. Jaspearl Tan/DMS