PARANG, MAGUINDANAO — Garbed in crisp camouflage uniforms and blue beret hats, the third batch of Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST) graduated from their month-long training in this sprawling police camp.
For Raffy Sarip, a member of the Moro Islamic Front – Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (MILF-BIAF) and among the 163 JPST graduates, the training gave him an entirely different perspective of government forces.
“Sa training na ito ko nakita, naramdaman, at napagtanto, na ang mga lumipas at nakaraang labanan sa pagitan ng gobyerno at MILF ay isang bagay na ang dahilan ay ang di pagkakaunawaan…Naging daan ang training na ito para tayo ay mabuo,” Sarip said.
JPSTs are composed of contingents from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and Moro Islamic Liberation Front – Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF-BIAF).
The composite peacekeeping team is an integral part of the security component under the normalization track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
Under the oversight of the Joint Peace and Security Committee (JPSC), JPSTs are mandated to ensure peace and security in areas mutually identified by the Government of the Philippines and MILF.
Specifically, JPSTs are tasked to track and document private armies and other armed groups, support the observance of the existing ceasefire agreement to prevent the outbreak of hostilities, and help resolve dispute resolutions on the ground, among others.
A total of 630 JPST graduates have been deployed in the BARMM since 2018.
