Amid cries for blood, clergy urges support for peace now

DAVAO CITY—The Mamasapano incident on Sunday did not dampen but continued to strengthen the call for peace in Mindanao.

Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro City was the latest to add his voice to the call for support to the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which he said, could help realize the quest for permanent peace in Mindanao.

In a forum on the BBL held in Cagayan de Oro City, Ledesma was asked what he thought of the incident, which resulted in the death of 44 members of the police’s Special Action Force. A transcript of his answers to questions posed by participants had been furnished the Inquirer on Jan. 29.

“All the more [that] we should be together behind the peace process,” the prelate said, adding that “the strategy we must take here, despite the outbreak of violence, is to move towards peace.”

Ledesma said polarization should be avoided.

More urgent

Fr. Paul Glynn of the Interfaith Forum for Peace, Harmony and Solidarity secretariat, said support for the peace process should be stronger “because we want peace.”

“I believe that (amid the violence) the BBL is more urgent than ever,” Glynn said.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chair of the committee on constitutional amendments, has manifested her desire to proceed with the hearings on the BBL despite the tragic incident.

She said suspending the hearings “would be counterproductive.”

“In fact the hearings should continue with even more vigor,” Santiago added. “Nothing will affect the hearings, not this unfortunate incidence of violence, for example.”

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chair of the committee on local government, also issued a statement that his decision to suspend the BBL hearings in Mindanao was due to security concerns.

“I would like to reiterate my earlier statement that I decided to temporarily suspend all scheduled hearings on the BBL in Mindanao [because of] security concern,” Marcos said. “Secondly, it would not be prudent to continue discussion on this issue until the strong emotion generated by this incident has died down and the truth about this incident has come out.”

Marcos’ committee was set to hold an in-house hearing last Jan. 27 and two more hearings in Jolo and Zamboanga on Feb. 4 and 5. Marcos has called for an investigation of the incident before hearings resume.

In Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao province, Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu has convened the provincial peace and order council, during which, various officials also called for public sobriety pending results of investigations on the deadly clash.

“Let us remain sober and avoid speculations that would only aggravate emotions over the tragic incident,” Mangudadatu said.

He said the Jan. 25 incident “was an unfortunate tragedy.” “But it should not become a setback to the peace process that seeks to address the Mindanao conflict that had claimed more than 200,000 Muslim, Christian and Lumad lives in decades,” Mangudadatu said.

Sobriety

The Bangsamoro National Movement for Peace and Development (BNMPD), a private organization working for the passage of the BBL, also said sobriety should prevail and fueling the rage avoided.

“Let the investigation of both the GPH and the MILF be completed before making speculations as we also call on the media to avoid enraging their viewers and instead help search for the truth about this incident,” said Drieza Leninding, BNMPD communications head. Allan Nawal, Bobby Lagsa, and Charlie Señase, Inquirer Mindanao