Bandar Seri Begawan, Feb 15 (IANS): Brunei will deploy four officers from the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) as members of the third Independent Decommissioning Body Verification, Monitoring and Assistance Team (IDB VMAT) in Philippines' Mindanao.

A flag handing-over ceremony was held at Bolkiah Garrison gymnasium on Monday.

The Brunei flag was handed over by the Guest of Honour, Major General Haji Hamzah, Commander of the RBAF, to Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Shalleh as the head of the delegation, Xinbhua reported.

According to Brunei's defence ministry, Shahril Anwar, the ministry's Permanent Secretary, Christopher B. Montero, Ambassador of the Philippines to Brunei, and some other senior military officers attended the ceremony.

The defence ministry said that IDB VMAT is a step forward in the peace process in Mindanao, the Philippines, to oversee the process of decommissioning of the forces and weapons of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The IDB VMAT is composed of foreign experts from Brunei, Turkey, Norway, as well as representatives from the government of the Philippines and MILF.