Don’t push Moros too far, lawmaker warns

From ABS-CBN (Feb 1): Don’t push Moros too far, lawmaker warns

Don't push the Bangsamoro too far.

This appears to be the message of one lawmaker as Moro congressmen delivered impassioned speeches bewailing the death of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which is said to be key to lasting peace in Mindanao.

"What seems to be clear now is for the Bangsamoro to patiently wait and to hope and pray that the next Congress will be more understanding and compassionate, not legalistic and unreasonable, when it takes up again the BBL," said Sulu 1st District Rep. Tupay Loong, a former Moro National Liberation Front commander.

"We can only hope that the Bangsamoro will not opt to return to the battlefield and start a shooting war to pursue their aspirations. But we cannot continue to stretch and exhaust the patience of the oppressed people to wait and hope because waiting and hoping have their ultimate limit."

"It is sad to note, Mr. Speaker, that the passage of BBL was adversely affected by one unintended and unfortunate Mamasapano incident of January 25, 2015 when 44 of the more than 300 commandos of the PNP Special Action Force (SAF), on a secret mission to arrest or neutralize international terrorist Marwan, were killed during the misencounter with the elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and armed civilians," Loong said.

"Many of us felt that the MILF cannot be trusted as a partner in peace-making for killing the 44 SAF commandos despite the peace agreement and ceasefire with the Philippine government. The Mamasapano incident has blurred our views and opinions on the passage of the BBL.

"When the Bangsamoro people accepted so-called autonomy, it was a supreme sacrifice on their part to give up their legitimate rights to fully live and govern themselves, according to their culture, tradition and religion," he said.

"With our inability to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which President Aquino and the MILF believed will bring comprehensive, lasting and just peace to the nation, we have failed in our role as a legislative body to provide the legislative support necessary to finally end the Bangsamoro secession and bring peace and unity to the country," he added.

WATCH: Belmonte admits passing BBL now impossible

Bai Sandra Sema, also of the MNLF, also delivered a privilege speech along the same lines.

"We don't owe it to the Bangsamoro people to give them real autonomy. We owe it to the Constitution that we have all sworn or affirmed to uphold and defend. At the end of our days, we will be made accountable for what we have promised," Sema said.

"The people of the Bangsamoro homeland looked up to the promises etched in the fundamental law of this archipelago. But our people now wonder, if the elected officials of these islands are really serious every time they take an oath or affirmation to uphold and defend the Constitution.

"The Bangsamoro people must be given the equal protection of our laws. The blood of the Bangsamoro people are as sacred as the blood of the SAF. They must be presumed innocent unless proven otherwise.

"Today, the people of the Bangsamoro homeland wake up to the reality that our dream for a just and lasting peace has crumbled. With the last two days ebbing away in the calendar of this 16th Congress, this representation can say that the Bangsamoro Basic Law is fast reaching ground zero, even as we celebrate Philippine Constitution day tomorrow," she added.

The 1987 Constitution guarantees the creation of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras.

The BBL is stuck in the period of "turno en contra" at the Lower House—two periods shy of a vote. After the "turno en contra," bills are put through the periods of individual and committee amendments, which could prove to be contentious since any member can propose an amendment. Should the author reject a proposed amendment, it has to be put to a vote. Once these periods are terminated, only then will any bill be put to a vote on second -- and if certified as urgent by the President -- 3rd and final reading.

The BBL is meant to institutionalize the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which is seen as the key to a lasting peace in Mindanao which has been saddled with separatist movements.

The House has been dogged by quorum woes as not enough congressmen attended sessions while the MILF and BBL got more unpopular in the aftermath of the Mamasapano incident.

Even if the House passes the BBL, or its amended version, House Bill 5811 or the Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, it will have to wait for the Senate's version.

The Senate, however is working on a different bill amending the Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao's organic law. This makes for a rather contentious bicameral conference committee that will be constituted to reconcile different versions of a bill.

The bicameral conference committee version will have to go back to the plenary of both chambers for ratification. Only then can it be sent to the President for his signature.

Advocates of the BBL mounted a silent T-shirt protest at the House plenary on Monday. While there was no scuffle, they were peacefully escorted out of the session hall. They flashed T-shirts in support of the BBL.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/regions/02/01/16/dont-push-moros-too-far-lawmaker-warns