STAY AWAY FROM UNTOUCHABLE SOLDERS::MILF Rebels to Hand over Arms in the Philippines

About 145 of the estimated 10,000 members of the MILF's armed faction will be integrated into society

The Moro Islamic Liberal Front (MILF) rebel group in the Philippines is set to hand over its first batch of weapons, as it embarks on a peace process.

The event in Maguindanao, in Muslim Mindanao, will be attended by President Benigno Aquino.

Seventy-five weapons will be deactivated as a gesture of MILF's commitment to peace, local media said.

In 2012, the government and MILF agreed to a framework for a peace accord.

About 145 of the estimated 10,000 members of the MILF's armed faction, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, will be integrated into mainstream society.

The government will provide a cash handout of 25,000 Philippine peso ($555; £355) to each of the combatants to be used for education, training and livelihood, The Philippine Star newspaper said.

It comes as a law implementing a peace deal between the government and MILF has attracted only lukewarm support in congress.

'For the sake of peace'

MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said the decommission process was of one of the most difficult decisions, according to The Star.

"For the sake of peace, for the sake of having real peace in Mindanao and for the sake of the need for normalisation [of] the lives of the people including the combatants, we have to undertake decommissioning and put them [arms] beyond use," he said, The Star reported.

Many Muslims rallied to press congress to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law that will implement a peace treaty

The framework for a peace deal came after 17 years of negotiations.

The Philippines government has agreed to give Muslims on Mindanao more autonomy in the Muslim-majority southern region. The rest of the Philippines is mainly Catholic.

In March last year, the government and MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement and are working on the Basic Law which will replace the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

The Philippines has faced separatist movements for decades in Mindanao, where the MILF is based, and in Jolo, home to the radical Islamist Abu Sayyaf group, which is reputedly linked to al-Qaeda