The Joint Normalization Committee (JNC), a mechanism under the Bangsamoro peace process between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has reorganized its composition as it vowed to regain momentum on its deliverables, which include the decommissioning of MILF fighters.
The committee reorganized its ranks on Monday, naming former OPAPRU Presidential Assistant David Diciano as GPH-JNC head and Bangsamoro Member of Parliament Atty. Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba as MILF-JNC head.
OPAPRU stands for the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity.
Diciano and Dumama-Alba will co-chair the JNC, a joint GPH-MILF peace mechanism tasked with ensuring the smooth implementation of the normalization track under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The body serves as a mechanism for coordinating all components of the normalization process for decommissioned MILF combatants, their families, and communities.
The GPH-JNC members include OPAPRU Presidential Assistant Noel Baraceros and Ariel Hernandez, while the MILF-JNC members are Sheikh Bashir Tahir Abdulbayan and Mohd. Noory Bin Anshary.
Ma. Erlinda R. Vila heads the GPH-JNC Secretariat, while Aliuddin Haron heads the MILF JNC Secretariat.
OPAPRU announced these developments Tuesday afternoon in a social media post.
Diciano said the government has already allocated funds for the next two years to ensure significant progress in implementing the normalization program.
He expressed hopes the JNC’s reorganization will regain its momentum and build on what it has achieved over the years.
For her part, Dumama-Alba said that the work for peace is a continuous journey, emphasizing that the principles of continuity and jointness must remain at the core of the JNC’s interventions.
‘The credibility of the peace process depends not only on what we implement, but on how faithfully and jointly we implement what we have agreed upon,’ she stressed.
‘At this point in our journey, I believe that we need stronger coordination and deeper cooperation between the GPH and the MILF. We may sometimes have different perspectives institutionally, but we share a common responsibility,’ Dumama-Alba noted.
In July 2025, the MILF suspended the fourth and last phase of decommissioning for its combatants.
‘It is hereby resolved that the decommissioning of the remaining 14,000 MILF combatants and 2,450 weapons shall commence only upon the substantial compliance of the GPH in the other tracks of normalization, including the provision of a socio-economic package as agreed upon by the GPH and MILF Peace Implementing Panels to the 26,145 (earlier decommissioned) combatants,’ the MILF said in a resolution