CAMP DARAPANAN, Sultan Kudarat –- Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Al Hadj Murad Ebrahim remains optimistic
there is still time for Congress to pass the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL),
hoping however that it will not be affected by the planned re-opening of the
Mamasapano case.
It has been reported that Senator Grace Poe said the two
committees that investigated the Mamasapano incident would reconvene after
Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile demanded the reopening of the Mamasapano
probe to cull new information and evidence from the deadly operation of the
Special Action Force (SAF) that resulted in the death of 44 SAF troopers, 17
MILF members, some civilians and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
(BIFF).
In a press conference after the Mindanao
Peace Summit here Sunday, Murad said the fate of BBL is now dependent on
Congress and it is no longer in the hands of the MILF.
Murad said Mamasapano is a closed case. He said there has
been investigation on the incident conducted by the Department of Justice
(DOJ), International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the MILF, which already
completed its probe.
“I hope hindi ito (re-investigation) maging dahilan para
itong BBL ay maapektuhan (it will not be a reason in order this BBL will not be
affected),” Murad said. He is also hoping that the original provisions,
especially the substantive ones, would be restored in this period of amendment.
The MILF had been seeking the restoration of the 28
provisions of the BBL that were removed by the House of Representatives and the
Senate that reportedly included the one that would give the prospective
Bangsamoro autonomous region P75 billion in initial budget.
Murad is also hopeful that Congress will realize and will
give importance to BBL not only to the entire Bangsamoro but also to the entire
Filipino people.
Remaining optimistic that Congress will pass BBL despite the
short remaining days to tackle BBL, Murad however feared this will be derailed
by some “spoilers”. Congress has only six remaining sessions.
“Some spoilers are trying to delay na hindi
ma-ipasa…spoliers na gusting i-delay ang proseso (that it will not be
passed…spoilers who want to delay the process). We are appealing on behalf of
the MILF bigyang halaga…meron pang panahon ipasa ang BBL ang original na BBL
(give importance…there is still time to pass the BBL...the original BBL),”
Murad said.
He underscored that if there is political will the
legislators can pass the original BBL with remaining sessions.
“Meron pa ring oras (There is still time). It is only a
matter of political will,” he pointed out.
If it does not pass, Murad assured that the MILF will
continue its struggle to have peace and implement some provisions of the
Comprehensive Bangsamoro Agreement (CAB) and the Framework Agreement of the
Bangsamoro (FAB).
He said the government has also the obligation to implement
the CAB and FAB.
Murad stressed though that BBL is important for other
process of the peace agreements to move forward such as the decommissioning of
the MILF and others in the normalization process.
“But we will continue to search for peace,” Murad assured.
Meanwhile, Murad said MILF will remember the people who died
in the Mamasapano incident last year, through prayer. He however explained that
MILF does not commemorate incidents such as the Mamasapano because it is not in
accordance with Muslim traditions.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=850326
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