On June 16, 2015 a Ceremonial Turnover of Weapons and Decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants was held at the old Capitol Building in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao. On that day, 145 Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) combatants were registered and processed to formally commence their return to full civilian lives. In late July 2015, the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) was invited by the MILF to interview 10 of these men. This publication is the result of those conversations. It brings out the voices of these 10 men who had just, a few weeks earlier, put their arms to rest. What these men’s reflections show is that decommissioning is a tool for peace; that it is not an end in itself but a means to a different life.

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