Palace warns lawmakers anew against junking Bangsamoro peace talks
MANILA, Philippines - As the Senate resumed on Tuesday its probe on the Mamasapano tragedy, Malacañang reiterated its call on lawmakers to pursue the Bangsamoro peace process.
Echoing President Aquino's earlier statements, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the next steps for the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) should be in pursuit of the peace process.
"Dahil kung hindi ito isusulong at iisa lang naman ang alternatibo, iyong pagbalik sa karahasan at iyong kawalan ng kasiguruhan hinggil sa pag-unlad at istabilidad ng Mindanao," Coloma said in an interview with state-run radio dzRB on Tuesday.
"Kaya iyan po ang mga dapat na magnilay po ang ating mga mambabatas na ito ang magiging consequence kung mababalam o titigil ang prosesong pangkapayapaan," Coloma added.
The fate of the BBL now hangs following the killing of 44 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) in the hands of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
The slain SAF commandos were part of the covert operation to get Malaysian explosives expert Zulkifli bin Hir or Marwan and Filipino cohort Basit Usman.
The operation, however, led to an armed "misencounter" with the MILF, who had insisted that they only acted on self-defense.
"Would anyone in his right mind consider armed intruders, whom they never expected, as still friends?" the MILF said in its recent editorial posted on its website, referring to the SAF troopers.
"Truth is that the MILF had never anticipated nor ever thought of fighting any government forces that fateful dawn of January 25; more so now that the BBL is already up for passage in Congress," the MILF added.
At least two senators have withdrawn their support to the BBL while the House of Representatives has suspended its hearings on the proposed law.
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