Marcos: BBL stalls until there’s ‘complete picture’ of Mamasapano incident

Senator Bongbong Marcos. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Until there is a “complete picture” of what happened in Mamasapano, Maguindanao  where 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) were killed, legislative process for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) cannot proceed, Senator Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos Jr. said Wednesday, Feb. 11 during the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap).

“Our timetable is March, unfortunately with these events, I do not know when to return to legislative process,” Marcos said.

“We have to get the complete picture. A partial picture will not be as useful in crafting a law that will bring peace in Mindanao,” he added.

Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Local Government immediately canceled the hearings after reports of the incident came out.

“The whole point of peace  process and the BBL is to bring peace in Mindanao,” Marcos said pointing out that the mechanisms put in place after the signing of the framework agreement for that purpose was not followed.

“They were there to avoid this type of incident. We have to stop and examine what happened to try to learn the lesson and strengthen the mechanisms,” Marcos said.

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