OPAPP to provide Senate with MILF report on clash

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) gave assurance yesterday that the Senate would be provided a copy of the investigation report of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) involving its fighters in the killing of 44 policemen in Maguindanao province last Jan. 25.

OPAPP director Polly Michelle Cunanan said the office has sent a reply to the letter of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. requesting a copy of the report of the MILF’s Special Investigation Committee on the Mamasapano incident.

Cunanan said Marcos has also advised OPAPP to attend the Senate hearing on April 13 to discuss the government and MILF ceasefire mechanisms.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal earlier said they would be providing a copy of the report to the government through the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team, under the protocols of the peace process.

Iqbal said its Special Investigative Commission has yet to wrap up its probe on the incident.

Iqbal, meanwhile, branded as “pure intrigue” reports purporting he has been using a Malaysian passport whenever he travels abroad.

Iqbal, concurrent chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, said he is using a Philippine passport and so is MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim.

Iqbal branded as “forgery” the stories circulating on social media showing photocopies of a Malaysian passport bearing his name.

“That’s a sinister handiwork of people with nothing good to do,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal said he is convinced that people opposing the enactment of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) could be responsible for spreading stories about his ownership of a Malaysian passport amid his dealings with the government as BTC chairman and MILF chief peace negotiator.

Iqbal was instrumental in the crafting of the MILF’s two major compacts with government – the Oct. 15, 2013 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The CAB was the basis for the draft BBL, now pending in Congress.

The proposed law, once enacted and ratified through a plebiscite, will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a new MILF-led Bangsamoro political entity.

“I use a Philippine passport when I travel abroad,” Iqbal stressed.

Iqbal’s counterpart in the government, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, said some politicians should stop using the Mamasapano incident to advance their political career.

Ferrer highlighted the importance of the peace process, even as she expressed hope for some Filipinos to appreciate the peace talks the way renowned foreign organizations do.

“The world recognizes the achievements we made in the peace process. Why is it here in our country some are not appreciating the importance of achieving peace? I wish some of our politicians should appreciate this, not on other aspects such as preparing for the elections,” Ferrer said in Filipino during the commemoration of the Jabidah massacre in Roxas Boulevard, Manila yesterday.

Ferrer also appealed to the public not to be swayed by biases against Muslims.

For his part, Abdulla Camlian of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission appealed for the continuation of the peace process.

Instead of beating the drums of war, some politicians should help think of ways to achieve lasting peace.

“My appeal is for politicians, not all, some politicians, not to use the Mamasapano issue… as their means to seek higher office,” Camlian said. –John Unson, Aie Balagtas See