EDITORIAL - BBL must be viewed in the global context

Congress should not rush the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. Instead it should recognize that the unfortunate Mamasapano incident has given it the golden opportunity to reassess the situation. Call it divine intervention, but had not the Mamasapano incident happened, a Congress that has proven itself to be subservient to the Aquino administration would have pushed the BBL much closer to the finish line by now, in accordance with the wishes of Malacañang.

In fact, it is rather sinister, and quite insensitive, for Malacañang to summon leaders of the House of Representatives to Malacañang to discuss the stalled BBL even before closure can be given to the Mamasapano incident. Having talked to House leaders, Malacañang now wants to talk to Senate members over the same agenda. Clearly, Aquino is bent on passing the BBL despite all the red flags that have gone up as a result of Mamasapano.

That Mamasapano happened as a result of divine intervention is a distinct possibility that must not be ignored. Remember that the approach of government toward the BBL is to treat it solely as a problem of peace in Mindanao. But to do so is to treat it myopically. The BBL has to be taken in context with the much larger global picture.

And there is no need to remind everyone that the much larger global picture have become very terrifying. The Middle East is erupting in flames. Terrorism has gone truly global. At the heart of it all is a brand of Islamic extremism espoused by ISIS that defies all logic and definition. Yet, in a world that has been forced to proceed with extreme caution, here comes the Philippines with its president all too ready and willing to sell out the nation in the form of the BBL.

This should not be the case and every Filipino who loves his country, his family, and a way of life that promotes the best of what it is to be civilized must stop this president from handing over everything we hold dear in a package called BBL. Yes, we want peace. Who doesn't? But it must be an honorable peace. It must be a peace earned through mutual respect. It must not come at the point of a gun. If all parties to the BBL want the BBL, it must be a BBL of parity and honesty.

Congressmen have already been summoned to Malacañang for God knows what arrangement the president must have bought with God knows what concessions. Next in the line of sight of the president are the senators, probably for the same purpose of making arrangements with the same concessions. The meetings are malicious and insult the memory of the 44 SAF commandos who gave up their lives in Mamasapano.

That these congressmen and senators have an election to face in 2016 makes them very vulnerable to the schemes of the president. But before they become willing accessories to the greatest crime about to be committed against this nation, they must first consider that they will still be in this nation if trouble erupts because they did not give the BBL the thorough double-checking and rethinking that it requires. If the BBL backfires, the conflagration will engulf everyone, including them.