Thousands call for congressional support for BBL

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Thousands converged on Tuesday in separate sites in Central Mindanao to unanimously call on Congress to reconsider its suspension of hearings on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Speakers in the rallies took turns urging the national government not to let the January 25 encounter between policemen and Moro rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao stifle the enactment of the bill into law.

The proposed law aims to establish a Bangsamoro political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao based on the final peace compact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front dubbed March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.

The simultaneous rallies were organized by different civic groups and non-government organizations engaged in various peace-advocacy projects in areas covered by the government-MILF July 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities.

Some of the speakers in the rallies had even criticized the 75-member House committee handling the BBL, earlier expected to be enacted into law within the year, for suspending their deliberations on the draft law in deference with on-going inquiries on the carnage.

The incident left 44 members of the police’s Special Action Force and 18 MILF guerillas dead. Four villagers also died in the ensuing crossfire, which caused the dislocation of more than 2,000 peasant families.

The hostilities in three barangays in Mamasapano, the neighboring Tukanalipao, Pidsandawan and Inog-og, erupted after the slain policemen had killed in a raid Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan in a secluded spot in the municipality.

The SAF members were maneuvering their way out from Barangay Inog-og where Marwan’s hideout is located when they encountered MILF forces and a third group, the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Local officials in Maguindanao, including members of the inter-agency provincial peace and order council, which is chaired by Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, had earlier called for a peaceful resolution of the incident.

The governor had earlier said he and his 36 constituent-mayors are against any outbreak of hostilities in the province as a consequence of the January 25 SAF-MILF firefights in Mamasapano.