Atienza: BBL peace panels violated their mandate, gave too much

Following the ethics complaint filed by former Sen. Rene Saguisag regarding the treason and sedition charges against the Bangsamoro peace panels, Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza on Friday maintained that the peace process negotiators committed possible legal violations and went beyond their duties.

Atienza said he could not see why Saguisag, a human rights lawyer, deemed “love for country” and “respect for the law” as unethical.

READ: Saguisag hits solons’ ‘terrorism’ of peace negotiators

“Ang amin pong pananaw, lumabag sila sa kanilang tungkulin, at masyadong sumobra ’yung kanilang naibigay. Binigay na nila lahat. Para bang ‘hindi bale nang magkaroon ng problema ang bansa, hindi man ngayon pero sa darating na madaling panahon, basta ang importante kaming lahat ay mabigyan ng medalya dito,’” he said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990AM.

The former Manila mayor said he was 100 percent sure that House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte would not honor the ethics complaint, which he called as “baseless.”

“Mapalad ang peace panel na ang venue na ating napili ay dumaan tayo sa korte. At pag-usapan natin sa korte ito, ito bang ginawa ninyo ay makabayan, ito ba’y nakabubuti, ito ba’y naaayon sa ating Saligang Batas o hindi?” he added.

In a letter to Belmonte, Saguisag said the sedition and treason raps filed by Atienza and Abakada Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz was a form of “prosecutorial terrorism” against the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panels.

In May, Atienza and De la Cruz filed the charges against the peace process officials for signing the deal that eventually resulted in the crafting of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which seeks to create a new Bangsamoro entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

READ: Treason, inciting to sedition raps filed vs PH peace panel, MILF over BBL

Atienza said he could not understand the terms that Saguisag used in his complaint, which included the phrase “premature ejaculation.”

“Hindi ko masakyan. Siguro dapat ipaliwanag ni Senator Saguisag ’yan. Siya lang ang nakakaintindi niyan eh. At meron pang binanggit na premature ejaculation. Eh ako hindi ko naiintindihan ’yan. Masyadong masalimuot … Hindi ko nararanasan’ yun eh. Siguro pwede niyang ipaliwanag,” he said. “Ganyan ang pag-iisip ni Senator Saguisag eh.”

In his complaint, Saguisag said: “The two Congressmen … have to be probed by their peers as a guide to future action and prevent a repeat of premature ejaculation, as it (was), causing needless departmental tension … (Atienza and De la Cruz being) at war most needlessly with Malacañang and the Supreme Court is not in the national interest.”

Atienza, who has always been vocal about his opposition to the BBL, said that he was just doing his duty by filing treason and sedition charges against the peace process officials, as the proposed measure would supposedly be detrimental to future generations of Filipinos.

“Ano naman ang mali sa isang congressman na ayaw tumanggap … maski na mali na ’yung pinalululon sa amin, maski na ilegal na at hindi ayon sa ating Konstitusyon, ay ating tatanggapin,” he added.