QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 79)
Executive Order No. 79 implements the Annex on Normalization under the CAB by adopting a Normalization Program and establishing an Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism to ensure timely, appropriate, and efficient delivery of programs covering security, socio-economic development, sustainable livelihood, political participation, confidence-building, and transitional justice and reconciliation.
The EO cites Section 5, Article II (peace and order, protection of life/liberty/property, and general welfare) and Section 17, Article VII (President’s control over executive departments). These provisions support the President’s authority to direct executive agencies to implement normalization activities for peace, security, and welfare.
The ICCMN is a formally established inter-agency mechanism created to ensure timely, coordinated, and efficient implementation of the Normalization Program, thereby operationalizing the Annex on Normalization consistent with RA No. 11054.
The co-chairpersons are representatives from OPAPP and OCS, each with a rank not lower than an Undersecretary.
They include: National Security Council; DILG; DND; DOJ; DSWD; Department of Agriculture; Department of Education; Department of Health; Department of Labor and Employment; Department of Finance; DBM; DTI; DICT; NEDA; CHED; TESDA; and NCIP.
OPAPP serves as the Secretariat, complemented by existing personnel from member agencies. It provides technical/administrative support, coordinates with agencies on the status of component plans, and member agencies must submit periodic reports on their respective programs to the Secretariat.
They include coordinating/mobilizing agencies; providing policy advice and assistance for modality/mechanisms; supervising and monitoring socio-economic interventions; creating a Working Group on Vulnerable Sectors and recommending interventions; submitting periodic reports to the President; and performing other functions directed by the President.
It must recommend interventions for vulnerable sectors, including indigenous peoples, internally-displaced persons (IDPs), widows, orphans, persons with disabilities, detainees and their families.
The programs cover combatant and non-combatant elements of MILF, families of decommissioned combatants, and other vulnerable individuals and sectors residing in BARMM. It specifically covers six recognized MILF camps: Camp Bilal (Lanao del Norte/Sur), Camp Omar ibn al-Khattab (Maguindanao), Camp Rajamuda (North Cotabato/Maguindanao), Camp Busrah Somiorang (Lanao del Sur), Camp Badre (Maguindanao), and Camp Abubakar as-Siddique (Maguindanao), plus other locations identified by GPH and MILF.
They are: (A) Security Aspect (including JPSTs/JNC-JPSC, decommissioning, PAG disbandment, SALWs management, AFP redeployment, UXO/landmine support); (B) Socio-Economic Development; (C) Confidence-Building Measures (DOJ/OPAPP technical working group re amnesty/pardon and case resolution processes); and (D) Transitional Justice and Reconciliation (ICCMN leads implementation of TJRC recommendations).
The transitional components rely on the Joint Normalization Committee (JNC) and the Joint Peace and Security Committee (JPSC), created under the Annex on Normalization, to ensure effective security collaboration. The DND and DILG direct AFP and PNP to designate members to Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPSTs) operating in mutually-agreed areas.
DND is tasked to provide appropriate trainings to the BIAF-MILF contingent in the JPST. AFP and PNP, in consultation with JNC and JPSC, provide necessary inputs/support to operationalize JPSTs, including training curriculum development, instructor assignment, internal orientations, and capacity-building.
During the transition period, DND may provide special enlistment of BIAF-MILF members in the JPSTs for those who intend to apply for entry to the AFP, appointment as members of the CAFGU, or a reserve geographical auxiliary unit in BARMM organized under EO No. 264 (1987) and other relevant laws.
It requires verification, validation, and decommissioning by an Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) composed of three foreign experts (including chairperson) and four local experts agreed by GPH and MILF. AFP and PNP may assist with personnel when needed, and AFP/PNP with relevant agencies provide routes/convoy/area security during decommissioning.
The National Task Force for the Disbandment of the Private Armed Groups in the Bangsamoro Core Territory and adjacent Regions IX to XII, created under Memorandum Circular No. 83 (s. 2015), is tasked to implement PAG disbandment, including necessary coordination.
A Technical Working Group chaired by DOJ and OPAPP must study and recommend the propriety of amnesty or pardon and identify other available processes for resolving cases of persons charged with or convicted of crimes connected to the armed conflicts in Mindanao, as contemplated in the Annex on Normalization.
The ICCMN leads implementation of recommendations in the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission report to address legitimate grievances, correct historical injustices, and address human rights violations and marginalization through land dispossession, toward healing and reconciliation. Relevant agencies are convened to work toward adoption and implementation of a Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Program for BARMM.
Initial funding requirements are charged against sources to be identified by DBM. Funding for succeeding years is included in the respective budgets of member-agencies and such other appropriate funding sources as DBM may identify, consistent with existing budgeting/accounting/auditing laws and rules.
It ceases upon signing of the Exit Agreement by the GPH and MILF Implementing Panels, or when the ICCMN determines that the programs under the Normalization Program are completely implemented—whichever occurs earlier.