While condemning the misencounter between an elite police team and Muslim rebels on Sunday, Senate President Franklin Drilon said the deaths of 43 Special Action Force (SAF) members should not stand in the way of the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
This, as Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano withdrew as co-sponsor of the BBL, saying the misencounter put in question the ability of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to control its forces.
Earlier, the chair of the local governments committee, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., suspended hearings on the BBL until the full details of what happened on Sunday are clear.
The SAF members - 43 bodies were so far recovered and one remains missing - were brought to Mamasapano town in Maguindanao at dawn Sunday on an operation to collar two wanted terrorists: the Malaysian Zulkifli Abdhir alias Marwan, and suspected bomb-maker Bassit Usman, implicated in recent explosions in Central Mindanao.
According to PNP officials, the SAF encountered the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Forces (BIFF) and while maneuvering away, they ran into the bigger MILF force.
In a statement Monday, Drilon said that “we are at a crucial point in our history as a nation where we are in the process of creating and embedding peace in Mindanao, and that is why we denounce in the strongest terms any act that poses a grave risk of thwarting every success we have made so far in the peace process.”
Drilon added: “We should not, however, allow this unfortunate incident and the deaths of our policemen, condemnable as it is, to stand in the way of efforts to bring lasting and genuine peace and development in Mindanao. It must all the more strengthen our desire and resolve peace.’
Drilon urged authorities to conduct a comprehensive investigation. "Our nation deserves an explanation as to why dozens of our policemen doing their duties had to die in such a manner.”
Marcos questions MILF over control over its members
Meanwhile, Senator Marcos also questioned the operational control of MILF over its combatants that may derail the passage of BBL now pending in Congress
“Well, first of all it’s not another group, it's clearly MILF—because they themselves said they were the ones who encountered the SAF. So we do not have that complication that a new group might be involved. It just calls into question the control that the MILF have over their fighters, “ Marcos said.
Marcos feared that the same incident might happen after the BBL is enacted and eventually approved in a plebiscite. “Control over their fighters is something we are counting on after the passage of the BBL and the plebiscite. So if that is something that we cannot count on, then that will certainly impact how we write the final version coming out of the Senate,” Marcos.
“Kaya ba nila talagang gawin kung hindi nila makontrol ang mga tao nila. So these are things that have to be examined fully now in light of these events,” he added.
Earlier, Marcos suspended the scheduled public hearing in Zamboanga and Jolo, Sulu next week for security reasons following the misencounter between PNP and MILF in Maguindanao.
“Because it is very difficult to negotiate a peace process when one party is still at war. And I think the very first premise is that we lay down our guns, we talk, we come to an agreement and we implement that agreement.,” Marcos said.
Probe of encounter looms
Nonetheless, Senator Grace Poe said she will immediately file a resolution to investigate the incident.
“First of all, that's under my committee [peace and order]. Second, it's no small matter to send so many highly skilled officers on that mission, considering government invested heavily in them; and most important of all these people [slain SAF men] have families [who deserve answers],” Poe said.
Poe also sought answers to the question bugging everyone: was there coordination with the Ceasefire Agreement Committee composed of MILF leaders, the PNP, AFP, government peace panel and an international monitoring team.
“Di ba walang overall coordination diyan? Sabi nila, nag-act sila separately. Parang wala namang central coordination,” Poe said.
“So I really want to know—why did they pursue that and why were they picked for that mission; is that their expertise? Think about this: to train one highly skilled operative like that, government must have made a huge investment. And then consider that many of the men were still young. The question is asked: were they trained to operate in that terrain?" Poe asked, speaking in Filipino.
Cayetano withdraws support from BBL
Relatedly, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano withdrew support as co-author of the proposed BBL while Senators JV Ejercito and Poe are still contemplating the implications of the encounter on the peace process.
“With the recent events involving the slaughter of our policemen in Mindanao, there is reason to doubt the commitment of the MILF for a framework peace and development in Mindanao,” Cayetano said.
“What for is a BBL if, this early when they have no control of the area, they can only say, when 50 policemen are killed, that it's because these people didn't coordinate with them?" Cayetano asked aloud. “So I’m withdrawing my co-authorship of the BBL and I seriously doubt if this peace agreement [can be sustained],” Cayetano said.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/103798/drilon-death-of-pnp-saf-men-in-clash-with-milf-wont-stand-in-way-of-bbl
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