At least two party-list lawmakers on Tuesday are giving a
favorable judgement despite the absence of proof that Basit Usman is dead as
claimed by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after encounter with their
ground forces.
Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano and Ako Bicol
Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe said that although they have no concrete
evidence that Usman is dead, they wanted to give the benefit of doubt on the
MILF's allegation.
“I have information from our military friends that Usman was
indeed killed together with his trusted aides when they refused to surrender to
MILF who tried to effect an arrest,” Alejano told reporters at the weekly
forum, Ugnayan sa Batasan.
Alejano admitted, however, that he had no information
whether the picture of Usman that became viral in the social media was for
real. He still wanted to believe that MILF was strengthening confidence
measure.
“This is a good sign if indeed MILF is really showing that
they want to end the more than four decades of fighting with government troops
and put an end to atrocities,” Batocabe pointed out.
The veteran lawmaker said that this was a good sign that
MILF were now showing confidence build up, who wanted to change Mindanao into a food basket of the country and
centerpiece of investment.
According to Batocabe, once peace is restored in Mindanao , foreign and local investments will
automatically flow for they knew that the promise land is very rich in natural
resources like oil.
But he said, MILF needed to continue to show proof of
sincerity and accept the expected constitutional Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and
forget the original draft, which was expected to be declared unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court.
For his part, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said
in the same forum that they would pass BBL on schedule.
“We need to pass BBL on June 11 and voting will happened on
May 11 and 12. After we get the needed number, we will immediately toss BBL to
the plenary for closer scrutiny of all members of the House of
Representatives,” Rodriguez, chairman of House Ad Hoc committee on BBL said.
This after Alejano and Batocabe made their individual
suggestions that will need more time or extend the scheduled voting on May 11.
Batocabe urged the Department of Justice to release warrants
of arrest against MILF who have murdered members of Special Action Force on
Jan. 25 Mamasapano incident.
Alejano, former junior officer of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines who have vast experience in Mindanao insurgency said, “we want to
reward them passing the BBL” if MILF will show sincerity that they want peace
by surrendering their men who will be accused of murder and assault upon
persons in authority.
“Do not forget that the first beneficiaries of BBL are the
MILF. This is why they do not want Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao because
it is being controlled by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Now, this is
also the reason why MNLF does not want BBL because they are not part of this
transition. MILF does not represent the whole Muslim community,” Alejano said.
Still, Rodriguez said he was still confident that he could
get the needed numbers when the voting comes on May 11 and 12 to pass BBL with
or without warrants of arrest.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=758914
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