Senator Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government issued a formal statement dated January 27 on the Maguindanao clash between members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police (SAF-PNP) last January 25 at Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The
statement runs as follows:
I
would like to appeal, as a peace-loving citizen, to everybody to refrain from
issuing statements that would foment hate and cause violent actions as a result
of what happened in Maguindanao.
It
is always wise to stay calm and exercise sobriety especially at this time when
the elusive peace in Mindanao is within reach.
While
I understand the strong indignation amongst our people, our judgment on who is
to blame should be based on facts and truth, which we, at this time, do not
possess.
Pending
the availability of facts surrounding the violent incident, I am holding in
abeyance any judgment. Neither will I issue a conclusion pointing fingers at
anybody. I hope everybody will exercise the same prudence.
I
am calling for a probe on the incident to be jointly conducted by the
Government of the Philippines
I
am also urging the peace panel from both sides to immediately reconvene and
formulate either a framework or procedures that should be followed to avert a
repeat of the bloodshed and other similarly violent incidents.
I
would like to reiterate my earlier statement that precisely the reason why I
decided to temporarily suspend all scheduled hearings on the BBL in Mindanao is because of the security concern. Secondly, it
would not be prudent to continue discussion on this issue until the strong
emotion generated by this incident has died down and the truth about this
incident has come out.
Despite
this, let me stress that I will continue my effort as chairman of the Senate
Committee on Local Government in seeking a lasting peace and development for
our brothers in Mindanao .
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/1477-statement-of-senator-ferdinand-r-marcos-jr-on-maguindanao-incident
Since the Mamasapano incident, MILF propaganda, as noted in this post and several others made on Jan 28, call for cool heads to prevail and for a thorough investigation of what happened that resulted in the unfortunate deaths of so many SAF police officers. The statements also emphasize that the government and the MILF should stay the course with regard to the peace process.
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