EDITORIAL - Undermining trust

After losing 44 men in Sunday’s clashes in Maguindanao, the commander of the slain Special Action Force members was relieved of his post yesterday. The government appears to agree with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s justification for the massacre of 44 SAF members: failure of coordination.

So far no medal has been awarded by the government to the MILF and its supposed breakaway faction, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters for the attack. Following a spate of bombings in Mindanao, the SAF team was hunting down two high-value terrorists believed to be enjoying the protection of the BIFF and MILF. Should the SAF have told the coddlers that the arresting team was on its way?

The MILF and BIFF not only lacked remorse but also gloated over the attack, putting on display boots, uniforms and personal belongings that were stripped from several of the slain policemen. Some of the corpses were mutilated. The widow of a slain Muslim SAF member lamented that when she called the number of her husband’s missing mobile phone, the woman who took the call gloated that her husband had killed the widow’s husband.

In the light of the attack, there have been calls for circumspection as the fate of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law hangs. The MILF leadership warned yesterday of “complications” if the passage of the BBL is delayed as a result of the slaughter in Maguindanao.

In fact rushing the passage of the BBL at this point, without first establishing the circumstances behind the attack, could prove to be a costly mistake. Among other things, the government must determine the true nature of ties between the MILF and BIFF, a group supposedly composed of rogue MILF elements. Is the MILF talking peace while maintaining an armed component outside the coverage of the peace process – a group that is free to pillage communities, kidnap civilians for ransom and attack government forces?

The most important commodity in a peace process is trust. And trust is what the despicable attack in Maguindanao has undermined.