‘No fee’ for entry of MILF, MNLF members to PNP – Iqbal

By ALI G. MACABALANG

COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro region’s co-chair in the Inter-Government Relations Body (IGRB) has clarified that ‘no fee’ is involved in the proposed to the police service of members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, IGRB co-chair representing the regional governance, also pointed out in a recent advisory that the bilateral body has not decided yet on the corresponding mechanisms to be crafted by a technical working group (TWG) tasked to craft guidelines for such a purpose.

Pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Article XI of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) or R.A.11054, the TWG was formed to craft the mechanisms and procedures of the MILF and MNLF members’ entry to the Philippine National Police for submission to the IGRB for approval and implementation, according to Minister Iqbal.

But the draft guidelines and procedures have not been finalized by the TWG and are being awaited by the IGRB, which is co-chaired by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III for the national government, Iqbal’s advisory said.

Iqbal said the unavailability of such guidelines simply means that the acceptance of application of MILF and MNLF members for entry to the PNP “has not started yet.”

In the meantime, he pointed out that collecting money related to application or in exchange for offering slots is “not allowed and considered (an) illegal activity.” (AGM)