President Rodrigo Duterte established an Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization to “ensure timely, appropriate and efficient delivery of the Normalization Program for the Bangsamoro.”
Executive Order 79 stated that the ICCMN will be composed of representatives from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Office of the Cabinet Secretary (OCS), with a rank not lower than an Undersecretary, as co-chairpersons. The ICCMN members will be the representatives from National Security Council; Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG); Department of National Defense (DND); Department of Justice (DOJ); Department of Social Welfare and Development; Department of Agriculture; Department of Education; Department of Health; Department of Labor and Employment; Department of Finance; Department of Budget and Management (DBM); Department of Trade and Industry; Department of Information and Communications Technology; National Economic and Development Authority; Commission on Higher Education; Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; and
q. National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.
EO 79 also said that member-agencies shall designate alternate members of equal rank to serve in the absence of their designated representatives. The concerned agencies and offices shall provide appropriate authority for the participation of their representatives in the ICCMN.
“The Chairpersons shall convene meetings regularly and as often as may be necessary to ensure proper coordination and implementation of this Order. A majority of the members of the ICCMN shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business,” according to EO 79.
Secretariat.
The OPAPP shall serve as the Secretariat of the ICCMN, to be complemented by existing personnel from its member-agencies. The Secretariat shall provide technical and administrative support to the ICCMN, and coordinate with concerned agencies on the status of component plans and programs.
The member-agencies shall submit periodic reports on their respective programs to the Secretariat.
Powers and Functions.
Consistent with the provisions of RA No. 11054, the ICCMN shall have the following powers and functions:
a. Coordinate and mobilize relevant government agencies in implementing the various aspects of the Normalization Program in accordance with their respective functions and mandates;
b. Provide policy advice, further support and other necessary input or assistance as to the appropriate modality and mechanism for the timely and smooth implementation of the different components of the Normalization Program, consistent with the principles of streamlined administration, efficient delivery, and accountability in governance;
c. Supervise and monitor all socio-economic interventions under the Normalization Program that are implemented through relevant government agencies;
d. Create a Working Group on Vulnerable Sectors to be composed of relevant government agencies, which shall recommend a set of interventions for vulnerable sectors, including indigenous peoples, internally-displaced persons, widows, orphans, people with disabilities, detainees and their families;
e. Submit periodic reports on the implementation of this Order to the President; and
f. Perform such other functions as may be directed by the President.
Section 6. Scope and Coverage. The programs under the different components of the Normalization Program, as defined in the next succeeding section, shall be implemented for the combatant and non-combatant elements of the MILF, the families of the decommissioned combatants, and other vulnerable individuals and sectors residing in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), consistent with the provisions of RA No. 11054. The programs shall cover the six (6) recognized MILF camps particularly, Camp Bilal in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, Camp Omar ibn al-Khattab in Maguindanao, Camp Rajamuda in North Cotabato and Maguindanao, Camp Busrah Somiorang in Lanao del Sur, Camp Badre in Maguindanao, and Camp Abubakar as-Siddique in Maguindanao, and such other locations of decommissioned combatants, as may be identified by the GPH and the MILF Implementing Panels.
The Order also provides that the MILF forces and weapons shall undergo a verification, validation and decommissioning process to be conducted by the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) composed of three (3) foreign experts, including the Chairperson, and four (4) local experts agreed upon by the GPH and the MILF. When necessary for the purpose, and upon request of the ‘DB Chair, the AFP and PNP shall provide personnel to assist in the process.
Disbandment of Private Armed Groups (PAGs).
The National Task Force for the Disbandment of the Private Armed Groups in the Bangsamoro Core Territory and the adjacent Regions IX to Xll created under Memorandum Circular No. 83 (s. 2015) shall be in charge of policy, planning and implementation of the program for the disbandment of PAGs, including coordination with the relevant bodies, as may be necessary.
Duterte signed EO 79 last April 24, 2019 effectively immediately.
