Drilon: Senate has no plan to junk BBL

By: TJ Burgonio - 10 years ago

Senate President Franklin Drilon INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senate President Franklin Drilon and many senators aren’t about to junk a draft law carving a new Bangsamoro region amid growing outrage over the debacle in Maguindanao.

But they challenged the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to hand over suspected Jemaah Islamiyah Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” Filipino cohort Basit Usman and rebels involved in Sunday’s bloody clash that left 44 policemen dead, as a gesture of goodwill.

“No, we should not junk the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law),” Drilon said in a text message. “With more reason that we should double our efforts in coming up with an effective solution for long-lasting peace in Mindanao.”

The 45-year Moro insurgency has killed 120,000 people, displaced 2 million and stunted growth in the poor but resource-rich Mindanao.

Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Joseph Victor Ejercito earlier withdrew their coauthorship of the Senate’s version of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law in protest against the MILF’s role in the encounter.

Mindanao Business Council

But the Mindanao Business Council (MBC) and the Mindanao Peace-building Institute Foundation said the firefight should not lead to abandoning the peace process.

“The Jan. 26 bloody incident in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, should not be the cause to derail the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law in Congress,” MBC chair Vicente Lao said in a statement.

Lao said Mindanao businessmen were concerned about the possible consequences of the “recent tragic incident” because emotions were still high.

“We appeal to our leaders in government and private sector to be careful and prudent in issuing public statements,” Lao said, because information was still vague. He added that the MBC maintained its support for the peace process.

In Iligan City, the Mindanao Peace-building Institute Foundation called for sobriety and calm and cautioned against mounting calls to abandoning the peace process.

The group said it was supporting instead moves for the conduct of an “immediate and thorough investigation into the incident.”

Call for sobriety

Senators Drilon, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Francis Escudero, Juan Edgardo Angara, Ralph Recto and Teofisto Guingona III echoed the call for sobriety in Congress, saying authorities should get to the bottom of the encounter, but it should not detract them from passing the draft BBL.

“Peace is never easy. Let us not give up,” Drilon said in a separate statement.

At the same time, Drilon pressed the MILF to surrender Usman, commander of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and rebels involved in the clash as proof of its sincerity to the peace process.

“This is a test of sincerity on the part of the MILF on the one hand, and a test of faith in the peace process on the part of the government and the Filipino people,” he said.

Ejercito, who said he was not closing any door to supporting the draft law, also demanded that the MILF also hand over Marwan.

Recto said the MILF should surrender both Usman and Marwan, and the rebels involved in the clash. “Let’s see. It’s premature for me to say that I’m withdrawing. The ball is in their court.”

At the very least, the MILF should identify the rebels involved, Escudero said, saying “They should act as partners in arriving at truth. This is a good opportunity to show and prove they’re partners in building peace.”

The SAF troopers clashed with members of the MILF and BIFF in Mamasapano while on a mission to serve warrants on Marwan and Usman, who carried $6-million and $3-million bounties on their heads, respectively.

Hearings called off

The encounter is seen to set back the Senate’s target of passing the draft law on final reading by March. Following the carnage, the local government committee, chaired by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., called off the hearings in Jolo and Zamboanga province next month.

The inquiry on the clash, called by Senators Grace Poe, Jinggoy Estrada and Guingona, has been set for Wednesday next week.

Premature

Senator Aquino said it was premature for senators to withdraw support for Senate Bill No. 2408 since the circumstances of the clash had yet to be established.

“I’m not withdrawing. As I said, we have to continue the whole process. But that doesn’t mean we will sweep this (encounter) under the rug,” he told reporters.

“I just think that it’s a gut reaction to let go of the peace process right after this tragedy happened. Better to discuss what happened, investigate it and charge those who need to be charged, and then see how the BBL can be amended,” he added.

“Our desire to achieve peace should not be delayed because of this tragedy,” he added.

Escudero agreed that the clash should be investigated to hold all parties accountable, but cautioned against junking the draft BBL that could lead to a fresh outbreak of war, where “more lives will be lost.”

“There should be sobriety with justice,” he said by phone. “Nobody said this is going to be easy. There are trials and challenges. There are groups out to sabotage the process, so we should not be hasty in our decisions.”

Angara agreed: “Definitely we shouldn’t throw out the BBL because much progress has been made.”

Even so, the encounter should be investigated so lingering questions like—Why did the police not follow established protocols? What are the links between MILF, BIFF and the terrorists?—could be answered, he said.

“That’s putting the cart before the horse,” Recto said of withdrawing support for the draft law.

Guingona said: “I’d like to wait for the official report. People should not base their decision on emotions, especially since we don’t know what really happened.”

Marcos, chair of the local government committee that heard the draft BBL in Mindanao, also saw no reason for his colleagues to withdraw support from the bill. He is not a coauthor of the bill.

“Quite the contrary, we should put in a lot of work. The first step in this process is to find out what happened,” he said.

20 peace-building groups

A joint statement of 20 peace-building groups in Lanao del Norte asked Congress “not to derail nor halt the legislative hearing on the BBL” so as not to affect the peace roadmap defined by both the government and the MILF.

“We call on the Senate and the House of Representatives to proceed with their legislative work on the Bangsamoro Basic Law while the PNP (Philippine National Police), AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and our President attend to this crisis. Our senators and congressmen have come a long way in consulting our people in order to pass the Basic Law,” said Bantay Ceasefire, a grassroots organization independently monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire accord between government and the MILF. With reports from Charlie Señase, Ryan Rosauro and Tito Fiel, Inquirer Mindanao