Police Reform – 2021
2021
Following the Bangsamoro Basic Law of January 2019, the police force in Bangsamoro was reorganized in September 2019. However, the law requires the establishment of a regional police force composed of MILF and MNLF fighters. Further, the signatories agreed to establish 11 Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST) barracks and create 200 Joint Peace and Security Teams comprising the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippines National Police (PNP), and the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF). The JPST will be the 6,000-strong force composed of 3,000 BIAF-MILF members and 3,000 government troops, of which 1,600 will be police and 1,400 soldiers.[1] As of 2021, 20 JPST teams are trained, of which only 14 teams have been deployed. The 30-personnel JPST is composed of 15 members from the AFP and PNP for the GPH side and 15 members from the BIAF-MILF side.[2]
[1] “Iqbal: Only 400 out of supposed 6,000-strong Bangsamoro joint peace security team trained,” Minda News, November 7, 2021.
[2] “Seventh Public Report,” Third Party Monitoring Team, January 2022.