Rights group: Aborting passage of Bangsamoro law not wise thing to do

DAVAO CITY—A group pushing for the inclusion of the indigenous peoples’ rights within the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) has issued an appeal to Congress not to suspend or abort the passage of the law as a sacrificial lamb for the violence that occurred in Mamasapano.

“While the BBL is not without its flaws, we don’t believe that suspending or aborting the process is the wise thing to do,” said Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement (MPPM) chair Rodelio Ambangan and secretary general Janel Pesons in a statement.

“We should not make the BBL the sacrificial lamb as a consequence to the violence in Mamasapano. We enjoin the legislators to stay the course by continuing the deliberations on the BBL until its final conclusion and make it genuinely inclusive and relevant to the peoples of Mindanao,” Pesons said.

MPPM said “sobriety and reason” should prevail because war will never be the solution to the problem that once again threatens the fragile peace in Mindanao.

MPPM also said the path of peace should be chosen in demanding justice for those who had fallen in the Mamasapano encounter.

It added it was not only the government and the MILF that had invested time, effort and resources to bring the peace process to where it is now.

“Ordinary people and communities have placed their hopes on this peace process especially now that the BBL is undergoing deliberations in both houses of Congress,” the statement read.

The group pointed out that skirmishes and armed conflicts in Central Mindanao had markedly decreased in the last three years because of the ceasefire mechanisms put in place by the government and the MILF peace talks.

“That’s why, we want to know what happened on the fateful day because we don’t want to make any assumption,” the MPPM said. “Thus, we demand for an independent inquiry to look into the events surrounding the incident and demand accountability from the author/s of the debacle and to impose sanctions.”

MPPM also called on the government and the MILF to review the existing ceasefire mechanisms and ensure that these were fully understood, honored and respected by both sides from their highest to the lowest ranks, to avoid similar incidents from happening again.

While sending their sympathy to the grieving families of the 44 police commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and civilians killed in the incident, the group said exacting revenge from both sides would not solve the problem.

“We respect the grieving comrade-in-arms of both the government forces and MILF,” the statement said. “Warmongers may persuade them to exact vengeance in the battlefields but war will never be a solution to the current situation. Rather, war will cause more lost lives and irreparable damage especially among civilians.”

The group also asked the media to be a “bastion of impartiality, (and) to let the voice of reason resonate in this trying times.”

“We appeal to some politicians, public figures and the warmongers to refrain from issuing provocative statements instigating war,” MPPM said.

“It is very easy to call for an all-out war from the comfort of your offices and homes when it is not your loved ones, family and community who will be affected,” said Agakhan Sharief, a former member of the MILF’s ceasefire committee, adding the nonpassage of the BBL could “cause more trouble.”

“The future situation could be akin to a civil war,” he said.

Sharief clarified that he did not mean to cause alarm but said his statement should serve as an eye opener for those calling for the scrapping of the BBL and the launching of another all-out war.

“We need to continue talking peace. There must be a deeper investigation over the Mamasapano incident and it should not be a hindrance to the passage of BBL,” he said.

The BBL gives significant powers to the future Bangsamoro government compared to what the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has today.

The BBL was crafted by government and MILF negotiators following 17 years of peace negotiations.