MILF rebels hand in guns in Philippines as part of treaty to end decades-long separatist insurgency

Nearly a thousand weapons have been handed in as part a treaty ending a separatist insurgency that has left about 150,000 dead

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has assured the rebels that the government will help to integrate them into society

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Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels stand guard ahead of a weapons decommissioning ceremony. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:04pm, 7 Sep 2019Updated: 9:09pm, 7 Sep 2019

Muslim rebels in the mainly Catholic Philippines began handing over their guns to independent foreign monitors on Saturday, as part of a treaty aimed at ending a decades-long separatist insurgency that has left about 150,000 people dead.

Just over a thousand guerillas in the country’s restive south were turning in 940 weapons in a single day, the start of a graduated decommissioning process that aims to turn the country’s largest rebel force into a regular political party.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters who were demobilised on Saturday represent a symbolic first step towards retiring what MILF says is a force of 40,000 in the coming years.

MILF rebels wait for transport to a weapons decommissioning ceremony. Photo: AFP

“The war is over … I have no firearms left,” Paisal Abdullah Bagundang, 56, a self-described veteran of more than 100 firefights with government security forces since the 1970s, said. But the disarmament will take time to make an impact in a place where violence is an almost-daily threat.

A bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle exploded near a market in Isulan town early on Saturday, just hours before President Rodrigo Duterte was to witness the decommissioning ceremony some 40km away in Sultan Kudarat.