It seems like the problems of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity in the decommissioning of MILF rebel-returnees refuse to die down.

Earlier, the office was chided for the delay in the disarmament process. This was followed by the revelation of Senator Raffy Tulfo of alleged corruption based on the number of surrendered firearms, vis-a-vis the number of surrenderers who were given P100K each (you do the math, which is really disturbing).

And coming on the heels of that controversy was another stressor exposed by Senator Jinggoy Estrada of the alleged pocketing by MILF commanders of 50 percent of the dole-outs to rebel returnees which, by the senator’s reckoning, would amount to more than P1 billion.

Presidential sister Senator Imee Marcos first exposed the issue Estrada raised in a social media post. But she did not pursue it. We reported it in a past article but thought the anomaly would be buried by more important issues until the revelation by Estrada in a recent public hearing of the committee he helms.

It is reasonable to think that the latest issue is not really for OPAPRU to worry very much about, as it involves the MILF. Secretary Galvez can refer it to the leadership of the Front to investigate and explain — after all, the anomaly was allegedly perpetrated by its commanders.

The MILF leadership must take a serious look into the controversy because it involves and has the tendency to taint the integrity of the revolutionary movement. They revolted against and wanted to secede from a corrupt system and guilty of malgovernance, but they were not free from these frailties and vices of man. The core values they professed to advocate in the BARMM administration are allegedly grounded on moral governance. However, if this practice was committed or facilitated in cahoots with officials or employees of OPAPRU, then Secretary Galvez has a lot of explaining to do.

What good are our pacification programs if a major segment of the target rebels is disgruntled and harbors a revulsion against the government system? We can have peace with some of them, but some feel injustice will rise again, as happened in the past.

We celebrated the 1996 peace agreement struck by the late President Fidel Ramos with the MNLF as a significant breakthrough in the pacification campaign. As a show of good faith, the government created the ARMMN for the MNLF to govern. Unfortunately, a segment of the Front which is now the MILF felt left out and rose to rechallenge the government.

A peace agreement was struck with the late President Benigno Aquino Jr., which led to the creation of the BARMM. Still, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters had not been pacified and continued to create trouble for the government peacekeepers.

Those victims of the 50 percent “kaltas (cut)” from the latest financial assistance will be easy prey for recruitment by another revolutionary movement. The BIFF, the Daawah Islamiyah, and other terrorist groups are just waiting in the wings, ready to absorb those complaining MILF members. We will unintentionally create another movement demanding another form of regional government structure. Negotiations will follow, and the cycle will continue ad infinitum.

Secretary Galvez can settle these issues easily. If he had dodged bullets from the Maute-Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the 2017 Marawi siege, he could have gotten out of this controversy unscathed. What worries observers is that so much of the time of the OPAPRU is eaten up by these controversies. Secretary Galvez’s focus is diverted to these issues, reporting to Senate hearings and preparing documents for submission. OPAPRU’s mandate of peace and reconciliation is relegated to the sidelines.

If there is no solid evidence to support an allegation of anomalies, let’s grant our public officials a modicum of understanding and allow them to perform their jobs.

amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com