MILF no-show in Senate inquiry not helping BBL’s OK

Mohagher Iqbal FILE PHOTO

The absence of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) leadership in the Senate inquiry into the Mamasapano clash that left 44 police commandos dead was not helping in the already uphill task of having the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) approved, Senate President Franklin Drilon said on Wednesday.

“I strongly suggest that [the MILF] be part of the process of rebuilding confidence between the two partners. It can’t be the government alone that is doing the effort; the MILF must be our partners in peace,” Drilon told reporters.

Instead of the MILF peace panel chair, Mohagher Iqbal, appearing before Congress, the group designated MILF Committee on Cessation of Hostilities chair Rashid Ladiasan to read Iqbal’s letter where he requested to be allowed to attend the inquiry once the Moro group’s internal investigation on the clash had wrapped up.

Do share for peace pact

“Since the MILF special investigation commission is still in the process of investigation, may we request that our appearance at the hearings of the committees be made only when the internal investigation is done,” Iqbal said in the letter addressed to the House public order and safety committee, where he also asked that his appearance be done in an executive session.

But Drilon said the MILF should do its part to strengthen ties with the government after the bloody Mamasapano incident had lawmakers withdrawing or reconsidering their support for the measure.

In the Jan. 25 incident, 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) on a mission to arrest Malaysian terror suspect Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” and his Filipino associate Abdul Basit Usman fell when they figured in a firefight with the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

“The (MILF) should do (its) share in building confidence in the peace that has admittedly suffered because of this incident,” Drilon said, adding however that the incident should not stand in the way of achieving peace in Mindanao.

“The BBL is the product of the peace pact and this is our opportunity to have lasting peace in Mindanao,” he said.

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed that a vote on the bill, regardless of which version, would result in its defeat because emotions were running high over the death of the SAF commandos.

“I don’t know about dying, but (the BBL) is in a coma,” Marcos told reporters at the Senate.

“All the legislative processes had been stopped,” said the senator who had earlier suspended the hearings on the bill until after the Mamasapano incident had been fully explained.

No magic pill

In a TV interview, Marcos also said the BBL was not some “magic pill” that would automatically solve the peace and order problem in Mindanao.

The senator cited the lack of good faith on the part of MILF leaders, the absence of a mechanism that facilitates coordination between the government and the MILF, and questions on the BBL’s constitutionality as stumbling blocks to its passage.

“The way forward is to (have) a change of perspective and not think only BBL. People had counted BBL as the solution, the be all and end all, (that as) long as we pass the BBL, the problems would be over. That doesn’t seem to be the case,” Marcos said in the TV interview, adding however that he was not giving up on the peace process.

Prove sincerity

Sen. JV Ejercito similarly said that the MILF still had to prove its sincerity in the peace process, instead of seemingly holding Congress hostage to the BBL following its statements that it remains a revolutionary group until the peace agreement had been fully implemented.

The senator said the MILF could show it was for peace by hastening the process of laying down its arms.

The MILF should also turn over to the government the terrorists in its areas, bring out its men involved in the killing of the SAF commandos, and fulfill its promise to return the slain troopers’ firearms, Ejercito said.

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