COTABATO CITY –- Through prayers, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Monday remembered their fallen comrades, members of the police special unit, and civilians who perished during the Mamasapano debacle a year ago.
“We do not commemorate in grandest fashion; we simply offer prayers for our slain fighters,” MILF chief Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said in a news conference.
“We pray for all: SAF, MILF, and civilians; they came ahead of us because of the circumstances beyond our control,” he said in Filipino.
“We remember them in our prayers,” he added.
The MILF chief also admitted that relatives of fallen MILF fighters whom he described as “mujahidden’ (freedom fighters) have received “little amount of assistance from the MILF,” unlike members of police Special Action Force (SAF).
Aside from the MILF, Murad said, wealthy Moro civilians have extended assistance.
“Our assistance is never enough,” he admitted.
He reiterated the MILF stance on the reopening of Mamasapano incident, saying “it will only add insult to injury that has already been healed as far as the MILF is concerned.”
He said reopening the probe could be used to dampen the Bangsamoro peoples’ hope on the passage of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
The draft bill, a product of 17 years of peace negotiations, remained unacted upon by the Philippine Congress.
“The issue could be used by some for political gains,” Murad said, adding that so many probes have been made, citing the Senate probe, the MILF’s investigation with the result forwarded to the government panel, the Department of Justice investigation and the International Monitoring Team inquiry.
“We hope it will not be used to junk the BBL,” Murad said. JE