Cotabato blast aims to derail Bangsamoro peace process – Murad

National Police investigators examine the site at the South Seas Mall following an explosion on New Year’s Eve in Cotabato city, southern Philippines Monday, Dec. 31, 2018. Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana says the bomb went off Monday near the entrance of the mall as people made last-minute preparations ahead of New Year celebrations killing at least two people and wounding over 30 others. (AP Photo/Rainier Canoso)

DAVAO CITY—Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Al Haj Ebrahim Murad said the New Year’s Eve mall blast in Cotabato City on Monday afternoon was meant to derail the Bangsamoro peace process.

Murad has questioned the timing of the incident as they are preparing for the slated plebiscite on the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law ( BOL) on January 29 this year.

READ: 2 dead, scores wounded in Cotabato City mall blast

“In the past, similar incidents have been resorted to in order to derail the Bangsamoro peace process. We must forge ahead with the same resolve as before so that we may finally achieve peace,” Murad said in a statement on Monday evening.

He urged the concerned authorities to “sincerely and thoroughly investigate this evil act,” noting that it is yet premature to conclude as to the motive of the bombing incident.

“We ask the authorities to examine all angles and make the result of the same public. We should not allow any party or group to make premature conclusions or draw insinuations so as to advance their own personal interest or political agenda,” he added.

Murad then appealed to the public, especially to the Cotabato residents to “stand united in securing community and ensuring that peace will finally reign in our homeland.”

“It is precisely for the absence of security in our homeland that we exert our efforts for the passage of the BOL so that a government can be established that can really protect and promote the peace and security of the place and its peoples,” Murad stressed. /jpv