WebClick Tracer

FACT CHECK: Decommissioning includes MILF fighters from Lanao del Norte

m16 khalid

A number of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters from Lanao del Norte have been decommissioned, contrary to a claim by Rep. Khalid Q. Dimaporo of the province’s 1st District.

Dimaporo made the claim after Secretary Rex Gatchalian of the Department of Social Welfare and Development presented the agency’s proposed budget for 2024 to the committee on appropriations of the House of Representatives on August 17.

The congressman said: “The MILF have [sic] not been decommissioned in Lanao del Norte. When we discussed this with the MILF leaders during the last congress, and sinabi nila, ang may kasalanan is DSWD (they said the fault lies with DSWD).  The DSWD is very slow in doing case studies. So I would like a clarification on this. And I will not bring it up here in the budget briefing in favor of tradition, and I will not bring it up in the plenary in support of our majority, but instead I will talk to the secretary personally.”

“But I would like this placed on the record so my constituency in the province of Lanao del Norte can hear and can see that we are trying to do our very best to ensure that peace will prevail under the BBM (Bongbong Marcos) administration,” he added.

That portion of the video of the budget briefing where Dimaporo made the claim was posted in his Facebook page on October 11, and has generated 144,000 views, 605 shares, 380 comments and 6,300 reactions as of 3 p.m. Monday, October 16.

But in a news article posted on its website on March 18, 2020, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said that of the 12,000 MILF combatants who were decommissioned under phase two of the decommissioning process, 986 were from Lanao del Norte.

“Under phase two of the decommissioning process, 5,361 combatants were decommissioned from the Darapanan cluster; 1,691 from Lanao del Sur cluster; 1,100 from Salman cluster; 986 from Lanao del Norte cluster; 954 from Rajamuda cluster; 848 from Old Maganoy cluster; 742 from Davao del Norte cluster; and 318 from Al-barka cluster,” the article reads.

According to the same article, each of the decommissioned combatants received a total of P100,000 in transitory cash assistance, P80,000 from the Bangsamoro Transitory Family Support Package and P20,000 from the Livelihood Settlement Grant, a fund that was created in partnership between the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (now the OPAPRU) and the DSWD.

The second phase of the decommissioning process began on August 28, 2019, and ended in March 2020.

The state-run Philippine Information Agency, citing the OPAPRU, reported last April 30 that around 400 decommissioned and non-decommissioned MILF combatants received their Certificates of Live Birth through the Access to Legal Identity and Social Services for Decommissioned Combatants (ALIAS-DC) Project on April 27, 2023 in Camp Bilal in Munai, Lanao del Norte.

ALIAS-DC is being implemented by the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment Through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS) Program, with funding from the European Union, Australian Embassy in the Philippines, Japan, and The Asia Foundation.

The same story appeared in the news website of ABS-CBN.

The decommissioning process is among the key provisions of the Annex on Normalization of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) to help former MILF combatants transition to civilian life.

“As of August 10, 2023, a total of 26,132 MILF combatants and 4,625 of their firearms have been successfully decommissioned since 2015 by the IDB (Independent Decommissioning Body), which is tasked to implement the decommissioning process,” Presidential Peace Adviser Sec. Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said, according to a press release from OPAPRU on Thursday October 12.

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. 

MindaNews is a verified signatory to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)

Read more MindaNews Fact Check stories
Back to MindaNews Homepage

MindaNews is the news service arm of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism. It is composed of independent, professional journalists who believe and practice people empowerment through media.

23C Saturn St. GSIS Subdivision, Davao City Philippines Tel. No.: 082 297 4360 editor [at] mindanews.com
Facebook Twitter

Search MindaNews

About MindaNews Fact Check

MindaNews Fact Check seeks to fight misinformation and disinformation circulating on the internet, news platforms and communities that we serve. 


What is MindaNews Fact Check?


MindaNews Fact Check tracks and debunks fake news, false claims and misleading statements of government officials, civil society leaders and netizens being spread on the internet, especially on social media sites. MindaNews values truth and accuracy in performing our journalistic work.


Why we fact-check?


Politicians, government officials and other public and private figures at times tend to bend facts to suit or advance their vested interests, or their principals, in effect misleading the public. The distorted facts spread easily with the popularity of the internet and the wide influence of social media.


As independent journalists, our primordial duty is to tell the truth and present facts to help the public discern issues and concerns impacting their lives.


How do we rate claims?


FAKE -  if the claim is completely invented.


FALSE - if the claim contradicts, undermines or disputes truthful facts, actual events and official records (i.e. laws and scientific studies)


MISLEADING – if the claim is based on truth but maliciously twisted that gives a different impression to serve a group or individual’s vested interests.


ALTERED – pertains to images or videos that were manipulated to mislead the public.


MISSING CONTEXT – if the claim needs more clarification or contextualization to make it clearer.

Where do you post your results?


We post our fact-checked stories in mindanews.com, on Facebook and Twitter with links to the original piece. We have a dedicated fact check page, where all fact-checked stories can be found. 


How did MindaNews Fact Check start?


Since its establishment in 2001, MindaNews has been living up to its vision of being the “leading provider of accurate, timely and comprehensive news and information on Mindanao and its peoples, serving economically, politically and culturally empowered communities” and its mission to “professionally and responsibly cover Mindanao events, peoples and issues to inform, educate, inspire and influence communities.”


MindaNews was founded by reporters precisely to ensure that reports about Mindanao, an island grouping that has suffered misinformation and disinformation long before these words became fashionable, are accurate. 


Our policy has always been to ensure that reports are thoroughly vetted before they are dispatched and uploaded on our website. 


Our fact-checking initiative with a uniform format started in October 2021 as part of Internews’ pioneering Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator (PFCI) project. Internews is an international non-profit that supports independent media from 100 countries. 


Prior to the PFCI project, MindaNews co-founded Tsek.ph, a collaboration among Philippine media institutions to fight disinformation and misinformation during the 2019. Tsek.ph did the same thing for the 2022 elections. 


Where do you get funds?


MindaNews has sustained its operation through proceeds from subscriptions of its news service  (news, special reports, opinion pieces, photos) and sales of books. It also receives grants from non-state actors.  Editorial prerogative, however, is left entirely to MindaNews. 


MindaNews does not accept funds from politicians or domestic or foreign states for its fact-checking initiative. For the other operations of MindaNews as a media organization in the past two years, we have received grants from the National Endowment for Democracy and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which we use for coverage, staff compensation, administrative expenses and to train other journalists.


MindaNews Fact Check is supported by a grant from Internews.


Do you accept leads from the public for your fact-checking initiative?


MindaNews encourages the public to provide us with leads not only for potential fact-check pieces but other news stories as well of interest to the general public.



Our fact checks include this paragraph encouraging readers to be part of the process: “As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact check pieces.”


MindaNews Fact Check - Methodology

What standards do you follow when fact-checking?


As a news organization, we strictly adhere to accuracy, fairness, balance, independence, accountability and transparency not just in our fact-checking initiative but in all other aspects of our work at MindaNews.


We abide by the Philippine Press Institute’s Journalist’s Code of Ethics. Since we became part of Internews’ Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator project, we have been striving to adhere with the IFCN Code of Principles, in step with our organization’s commitment to non-partisanship, transparency and fairness.


We fact-check a claim that is specifically claimed to be a fact and involved the public interest or the welfare of the people. We debunk false claims using official government records, journals or interviews with experts. 


We don’t fact-check opinions.

How do we fact-check?

Step 1: Team members monitor press conferences, speeches, statements, news, interviews, social media sites, etc. for statements worth fact-checking.


Step 2: When a claim is worth fact-checking, a team member looks for multiple sources to dispute the claim, including tracing the original source document.


Step 3:  Fact-checked claims are then submitted to the editor for copy editing and vetting. The link/s to debunk the claim are always included in the story.  


Step 4: A rating card is prepared to accompany the fact-checked piece, or infographics if needed, to immediately flag readers what the article is all about. 


Step 5: The senior editor takes another look before the article is posted on the website and social media accounts.

Correction Policy

Consistent with our vision and mission as a media institution, we rectify any error committed. If you spot a factual error, you may notify us thru editor@mindanews.com or our Facebook Messenger @Mindanews.


Correction Workflow


  • Errors pointed out are immediately brought to the attention of the editors and the fact-checking team. 


  • The fact-checker is immediately notified for verification. 


  • Once verified, the error is to be corrected within 24 hours and vetted before publication on the website. 


  • Readers will immediately know errors have been corrected through the Editor’s note posted above the article. 


  • The person who notified MindaNews about the error will be informed that the correction has been made.

Submit a Correction

About MindaNews

MindaNews is the news service arm of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism (MinJourn). It is composed of independent, professional journalists who believe and practice people empowerment through media. MinJourn, which is duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission with registration number CN201700385, is managed by its Board of Directors.

MindaNews values its journalistic independence. It started in May 2001 as a media cooperative and in January 2017 registered as a nonstock, nonprofit media organization.  We do not  accept funding from politicians, political parties or partisan groups.

Editorial staff

Fact-checking Unit: Romer (Bong) Sarmiento, Yas D. Ocampo

 

Mindanao Institute of Journalism

 

Board of Directors

President & CEO: Jowel Canuday, D.Phil. (oxon.)
Vice President: Romer S. Sarmiento

Members
Carolyn O. Arguillas, M.A.
Rhodora Gail T. Ilagan, Ph.D.
Amalia B. Cabusao (Doc Can.)
Robert D. Timonera
Ellen P. Alinea

You might also like

DAVAO

GENERAL SANTOS

CAGAYAN DE ORO

BUKIDNON

BARMM

ILIGAN

AGUSAN DEL SUR

MALAYBALAY