The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine
National Police (PNP) have affirmed support for the passage of the Bangsamoro
Basic Law (BBL) even with the outrage over the unfortunate incident in
Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Expressing the apprehensions of people from Mindanao that
the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law will be delayed or scrapped off in the
wake of the Jan. 25 Mamasapano incident, House of Representatives' Deputy
Speaker and Lanao del Sur second district Representative Pangalian Balindong
asked top police and military officials if they support the passage of the BBL
as a way forward in achieving peace.
To this, both PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director Leonardo
Espina and AFP Chief of Staff General Gregorio Catapang responded "Yes"
and affirmed their support to the passage of the BBL during the HOR's first
public hearing Wednesday on the incident that claimed lives of 44 Special
Action Force (SAF) policemen, armed rebels and civilians.
Balindong, a Muslim, appealed that the “peace process should
continue so our (referring to the people of Mindanao )
hearts may be at ease.”
He urged the conduct of an “uninterrupted review of the BBL”
parallel to the Congressional probe on the Mamasapano incident.
Meanwhile, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Teresita Quintos Deles said the passage of the BBL is really in the hands of
Congress and expressed her respect to the power of the body to legislate a law
that will address the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.
The passage and ratification of the BBL shall establish a
Bangsamoro government that will exercise genuine autonomy, and replace the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The BBL is the enabling law of the
Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed by the Government of the
Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liebration Front (MILF) on March 27,
2014. The CAB also provides a normalization process that includes
decommissioning of the MILF weapons and forces, simultaneous to the
establishment of the Bangsamoro.
Earlier, Espina emphasized in a very emotional manner that,
"we (the PNP) are for peace, we are first and foremost your peacemakers.
Whatever it takes to attain the peace, let us do it po."
Implication of non-passage of BBL
In response to a question from Caloocan City
According to the AFP chief, government forces and MILF had a
zero skirimish record for three years since 2012 until this year when the
tragic incident in Mamasapano happened due to the ceasefire accord.
However, Catapang noted that in the past, encounters between
the government and MILF forces from 2001 to 2012 resulted to: 491 deaths among
AFP and PNP; 841 deaths among civilians; and 1,267 deaths among MILF members.
The record for the wounded were 1,089 among AFP and PNP; 1,673 for civilians;
237 for the MILF.
Catapang expressed “Pahihintulutan po ba natin na mangyari
at maulit ito kung hindi natin itutuloy ang national endeavour na magkaroon ng
kapayapaan? (Do we allow this to happen again if we do not continue the
national endeavour of achieving peace?)”
Deles on her part said, “Your honor we already know what the
situation is when there is no ceasefire. I thank Gen. Catapang for already
having stated that. I think your honor it also has some implications on what we
tell our people about our capacity to be able to make peace. What it tells our
people about our capacity to fulfill a constitutional mandate on autonomy.”
She cited the wisdom of the framers of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution. Fourteen surviving members of 1986 Constitutional Commission
signed last February 9 a statement supporting the creation of the Bangsamoro,
as consistent with the constitutional mandate to create an autonomous region in
the south. With this Deles said, ”I think we disappoint ourselves, I think we
fall down on ourselves, if we cannot show that we can rise to that
(constitutional mandate).”
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