GOVERNMENT peace panel chair Miriam Coronel Ferrer urged the men behind “Oplan Exodus” to have the balls to face the consequences in the botched antiterror raid, just as she is “woman” enough to stand for the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
During the House of Representatives investigation into the Mamasapano debacle Wednesday, Ferrer also took a swipe at lawmakers who seemed to have lost support for the Bangsamoro basic bill due to the gunbattle in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao between government troops and the MILF that threatened the passage of the bill seeking to implement the peace deal with MILF.
“The peace process has suffered a lot. Most of you have support of the peace process from the very beginning… With the Mamasapano incident, it’s as if the peace process that caused all the casualties… What we’re saying is it’s the peace process that’s the victim of this unfortunate incident…,” Ferrer said.
Ferrer responded to a question by Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop who told her: “It seems to me that you’re only looking peace at your book.”
Ferrer then urged the law-enforcement men behind the “Oplan Exodus,” which succeeded in hunting down international terrorist Marwan but at the expense of 67 persons, to be “man enough” to face the consequences of their decisions.
At least 44 SAF commandos, 18 MILF fighters, and five civilians were killed in the debacle blamed on lack of coordination between the SAF and the military for reinforcement.
“It’s not our mandate to identify who’s responsible, but I think we have to stand up for the peace process,” Ferrer said.
“If we are woman enough to stand up to the peace process, we hope the men responsible for this operation would be man enough to stand for the consequences of their decisions and their risks that they decided to take in conducting this operation,” she added.
The chamber is investigating the debacle that rocked the passage of the Bangsamoro bill due to the involvement of the MILF in the attack against the SAF. The bill seeks to implement the government peace deal with the MILF for a politically autonomous Bangsamoro entity. AC