MILF: Pass Bangsamoro law or face complications

MANILA, Philippines - Amid the uproar over the clashes in Maguindanao that killed 44 policemen, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is calling for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), saying any hesitation could create “complications.”

The MILF said the BBL, which seeks to form a Bangsamoro region with enhanced autonomy, was intended to address a problem that has been around “for decades or even centuries.”

“Proceeding and passing the Bangsamoro Basic Law is the only option open to all of us now. Any hesitancy breeds more complications,” MILF said in an editorial posted on its website luwaran.com. It did not elaborate on what the “complications” might be.

“Like a good driver, the focus must be on how to reach the destination while seeing and minding all the sides of the road, including looking back using the mirrors,” it added.

A product of 17 years of negotiations, the BBL will implement the peace deal signed by the government and MILF last March.

It will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which President Aquino had called “a failed experiment.” The new Bangsamoro region to be created would enjoy greater political and economic powers.

Deliberations on the bill were suspended following the incident that 44 operatives of the police Special Action Force (SAF) killed by rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Sunday.

The measure is also facing opposition from some lawmakers and groups who say it would violate the Constitution.

The MILF said critics of the measure should be ignored.

“Never mind the detractors, obstructionists, and even outright spoilers; they are always part of the whole journey. It is better to appreciate their inseparability to the process rather than to accumulate remorse in our hearts and hate them, especially if done openly,” the MILF said.

“Never mind also those people, including politicians and church people, who said that they were not consulted. Check with actual facts their voices can be easily doubted,” it added.

The MILF said more than 600 consultations on the BBL have been conducted nationwide.

“The truth is that it is impossible to talk to and consult everyone in this country. If these leaders of people are real and responsible, they should not wait to be consulted but instead they should and must seek for a dialogue themselves,” it said. “National interests demand of us to set aside our egos and work for the common good.”

With regard to the constitutionality of the BBL, the MILF said it would be better to hear and heed the voices of the members of the 1987 Constitution who support the measure.

Moving on

Despite last Sunday’s bloody clash, the military remains supportive of the peace process with the MILF.

Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said the Maguindanao encounter should not be viewed as an impediment to the negotiations.

“We in the Armed Forces are fully committed to the peace process,” Cabunoc said.

“We want an end to violence because everyone suffers when there is conflict. We end up fighting against fellow Filipinos,” he added.

Cabunoc declined to comment on how the presence of terrorists in MILF camps would impact on the group’s sincerity to talk peace.

“The peace talks are not within our level,” he said.

On the other hand, the lawmakers deliberating on the BBL resumed working on their version of the proposed statute that would create a new autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao.

The resumption followed a half-day suspension of the committee’s session on Monday to demonstrate its concern over the killing of 44 policemen in Maguindanao and its demand for justice.

“We have already expressed our concern and we have to continue working on this legislation. What happened in Maguindanao cannot derail our task and our effort to bring lasting peace and development to Mindanao,” Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, committee chairman, said on the second day of closed-door sessions of his panel.

As agreed on Monday, Rodriguez said the committee is deferring discussions on national security and public safety-related provisions of the draft BBL until it has received the reports it is seeking from the authorities on the Maguindanao encounter.

It sought such reports from the military, the police, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the leadership of the ARMM.

“We have given them a deadline, which is on Monday, Feb. 2. We will evaluate their reports in conjunction with the related BBL provisions,” Rodriguez said.

“We are still on schedule in our deliberations as of now, but I foresee a slight delay when we get those reports. Some members have expressed their intention to propose a rewriting of the provisions on regional and national security and public safety in view of what happened,” he said.

Rodriguez said his panel has so far discussed the proposed law’s preamble and general provisions.

He pointed out the committee is still aiming to come up with its version of the proposed BBL on Feb. 9.

“We are recommending that the House start plenary debates on it middle of next month and to approve it before the Holy Week recess of Congress in March,” he added.

While the House is working on its version of the BBL, the Senate has stopped its hearings in the wake of the Maguindanao encounter.

However, Rodriguez said he was informed that another Senate panel – the committee on constitutional amendments – has been tasked to help flesh out the constitutionally questionable provisions of the draft law.

“So there are now three Senate committees involved, and that could delay the final approval of this proposed law,” he said.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who chairs the constitutional amendments committee, has said the BBL draft would not hurdle a constitutional challenge before the Supreme Court.

The draft, written by a joint government-Moro Islamic Liberation Front panel, has many unconstitutional provisions, she said.

Despite the incident in Mamasapano, Malacañang remains confident in and committed to the passage of the BBL.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Legislative, Policy and Legal Affairs Undersecretary Jess Anthony Yu admitted last Sunday’s incident was the “single bloodiest” that could affect the enactment of the BBL into law.

But he doubted the encounter would leave the BBL in limbo.

“The BBL is part of the legislative measure of the President,” Yu said.

There had been reports that two co-authors to the proposed BBL in Senate – Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano and Joseph Victor Ejercito – have withdrawn their support.

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the committee on local government, suspended the hearings and discussion related to the BBL pending clarification on the incident. – Jess Diaz, Evelyn Macairan