Question & AnswerQ&A (ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 295)
The parties are the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), represented by Ambassador Manuel T. Yan and Professor Nur Misuari respectively.
The ZOPAD is a designated peace and development zone in the Southern Philippines established by Executive Order No. 371 to support the peace process and governance structures including the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD).
A total of 5,750 MNLF members are to be integrated into the AFP, with 250 of them to be absorbed into auxiliary services.
The integration process is divided into three phases: processing, individual training, and on-the-job training (OJT) and deployment.
Age, height, educational attainment, AFP Aptitude Battery Test, and civil status requirements may be waived on a case-to-case basis by competent authority to facilitate integration.
In the processing phase, the MNLF conducts pre-selection, submits candidate lists, and the AFP provides processing centers where candidates undergo verification and processing starting November 1, 1996.
Officer candidates will undergo a 48-week Officer Candidate Course, while candidate soldiers will undergo a six-month Candidate Soldier Course, both starting not later than February 1, 1997.
The Commander of SOUTHCOM exercises command, administrative, and operational control, with a Deputy Commander for Separate Units (from the MNLF) assisting. Separate units are supported administratively and logistically by AFP brigades/battalions in their area.
The Office of the Deputy Commander for Separate Units is dissolved, personnel reassigned, and separate units are dissolved with members integrated into regular AFP units within the SOUTHCOM area.
Applicants who voluntarily turn over their firearms are compensated under the AFP Balik-Baril Project, and firearms not turned over and still held by non-integrated MNLF members are subject to existing firearms laws and regulations.
The Secretary of National Defense is tasked to prescribe the rules and regulations for the integration process in accordance with existing laws and AFP policies.
As Commander-in-Chief of the AFP, the President issued this Order prescribing rules for integration, appointed the Deputy Commander for Separate Units, and has overall authority over matters not expressly covered in the Peace Agreement.
Yes, integrated personnel shall be provided opportunities for further professional and military training, including foreign schooling, aligned with AFP education and training programs.
The AFP shall submit a supplementary budget request to the Office of the President through the Secretary of National Defense and Secretary of Budget and Management for Congress's action to fund the integration for the remainder of 1996 and 1997.