<p class="title">Muslim rebels in the mainly Catholic Philippines began handing over their guns to independent foreign monitors Saturday, as part of a peace treaty aimed at ending a decades-long separatist insurgency that has left about 150,000 people dead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Just over a thousand guerrillas are turning in 940 weapons in a single day, in a graduated decommissioning process that aims to turn the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest rebel force, into a regular political party.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fighters demobilised on Saturday represent a symbolic first step toward retiring what MILF says is a force of 40,000 fighters in the coming years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The war is over... I have no firearms left," Paisal Abdullah Bagundang, 56, a self-described veteran of more than 100 firefights with government security forces since the 1970s, told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the disarmament will take time to make an impact in a place where violence is an almost daily threat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle exploded near a public market in Isulan town early on Saturday, just hours before President Rodrigo Duterte was to witness the decommissioning ceremony some 40 kilometres (25 miles) away in Sultan Kudarat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police said eight people were injured in the attack by unknown suspects.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The decommissioning process "should not lead to expectations that it is going to result in a major deceleration in attacks", said Francisco Lara, senior conflict adviser for Asia at watchdog group International Alert, noting that the general public in the region is also armed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Officials hope to put rebel weapons "beyond use" will nudge the region away from the mindset that gun-ownership is essential to ensuring survival.</p>.<p class="bodytext">About a third of MILF combatants and their weapons are to be retired in the first phase of the decommissioning process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In order to have an enduring peace, we have to change the mindset of the people," Duterte peace adviser Carlito Galvez told reporters Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Each retired fighter will receive a million pesos' (about $19,000) worth of cash, scholarships, health insurance, and training to become productive civilians. </p>
<p class="title">Muslim rebels in the mainly Catholic Philippines began handing over their guns to independent foreign monitors Saturday, as part of a peace treaty aimed at ending a decades-long separatist insurgency that has left about 150,000 people dead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Just over a thousand guerrillas are turning in 940 weapons in a single day, in a graduated decommissioning process that aims to turn the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest rebel force, into a regular political party.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fighters demobilised on Saturday represent a symbolic first step toward retiring what MILF says is a force of 40,000 fighters in the coming years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The war is over... I have no firearms left," Paisal Abdullah Bagundang, 56, a self-described veteran of more than 100 firefights with government security forces since the 1970s, told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the disarmament will take time to make an impact in a place where violence is an almost daily threat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle exploded near a public market in Isulan town early on Saturday, just hours before President Rodrigo Duterte was to witness the decommissioning ceremony some 40 kilometres (25 miles) away in Sultan Kudarat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police said eight people were injured in the attack by unknown suspects.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The decommissioning process "should not lead to expectations that it is going to result in a major deceleration in attacks", said Francisco Lara, senior conflict adviser for Asia at watchdog group International Alert, noting that the general public in the region is also armed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Officials hope to put rebel weapons "beyond use" will nudge the region away from the mindset that gun-ownership is essential to ensuring survival.</p>.<p class="bodytext">About a third of MILF combatants and their weapons are to be retired in the first phase of the decommissioning process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In order to have an enduring peace, we have to change the mindset of the people," Duterte peace adviser Carlito Galvez told reporters Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Each retired fighter will receive a million pesos' (about $19,000) worth of cash, scholarships, health insurance, and training to become productive civilians. </p>