A former commander of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
turned politician on Tuesday urged the hierarchy of the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) to attend the Senate hearing to explain their side and clarify
things on the Jan. 25 clash with police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
This was the message of Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong after the MILF
did not show up at the Senate investigation on Monday and Tuesday and instead
sent a message addressed to Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee
on Public Order and Illegal Drugs.
“This is an opportunity for them (MILF) to explain their
side to release doubt because if they will continue resisting, if they are not
going to face the investigation, so the impression of the people that they are
the one at fault,” Loong told reporters at the weekly forum, Ugnayan sa Batasan
in Quezon City
Loong said he was one who voted to defer the House
deliberation of the BBL “because we want the truth to come out now we cannot
make our own judgment until finally truth will come out.”
“We in the House of Representative just want to act on the
basis of executive agreement between the executive government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front. But we cannot also sacrifice the highest interest of
the country because the one who is now affected is the public sentiment of the
whole country. We have to accommodate that sentiment but on the part of the
MILF, they must also come out to open and explain their side if they did not
commit any mistake,” he said.
The MILF and the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters (BIFF) clashed and killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) operatives on
an anti-terrorist mission last Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
“They have to justify their position. Now if they are
committing something wrong -- so meaning that is a violation of the agreement
entered into between the government and the MILF so these are the issues we are
going to erase from the public impression if we want this BBL to go forward,”
he said.
According to Loong, the prolonged non-appearance of the MILF
at the ongoing Senate investigation will further condition the mind of the
public that they are at fault.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=0&sid=&nid=0&rid=734376
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