Senate to resume BBL hearings in April

MANILA, Philippines - With the report of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the Jan. 25 encounter of police commandos with Muslim rebels in Maguindanao submitted to the Senate, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. disclosed that his committee could now resume hearings on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Marcos, chairman of the Senate committee on local government, said that the hearings – stalled since January – will resume on April 13 after the Holy Week break.

In his previous statements, Marcos said that he would not resume hearings until he receives all the reports of the various investigations into the Mamasapano clash.

The Philippine National Police’s Board of Inquiry has provided a copy of its report and this was followed by the committee report of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.

It was only this week that the MILF decided to provide a copy of its report to the Senate after initially sending it to Malaysian officials.

The copy of the report was sent to Marcos as chairman of the local government committee.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the report was officially submitted to the head of mission of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Cotabato on March 22.

Marcos welcomed the submission of the report, saying this is a good restoration of cooperation by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission with the committee.

“Since I have received the MILF report and I already have the report of the Board of Inquiry and also the Senate report, I can now resume the hearing on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Marcos said.

Marcos said that the first item on the agenda would be on strengthening the ceasefire mechanism to prevent another Mamasapano massacre.

“We need to strengthen the ceasefire mechanism. Because what happened in Mamasapano was, as early as 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. on that Sunday, the MILF was already told that it’s the government troops that they were firing at. But the total ceasefire was only achieved around 4 p.m., that’s almost 11 hours. If it only took 11 minutes to implement the ceasefire, then some lives could have been saved,” he said.

Give BBL a chance

Christian Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and former chairman of the Commission on Elections, appealed to Congress to give a more objective outlook on the proposed BBL when it resumes committee hearings on the measure in April.

Monsod said the public should also give the MILF more credit for giving up its dream of pushing Mindanao’s secession when it signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government.

He also insisted that the proposed parliamentary form of the Bangsamoro regional government is allowed under the 1987 Constitution and fits more the Bangsamoro culture.

“BBL will provide just enough power for self-determination within the bounds of the Constitution. The region needs the resources to accomplish its goals,” Monsod said.

Monsod also hoped that critics would look more deeply into the “vision, spirit and core principles of the BBL,” which he stressed are completely in line with the 1987 Constitution’s provisions on human development and social justice.

Former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said yesterday that all-out war is the only solution to the Mindanao conflict.

Estrada told the media forum Kapihan sa Manila Bay that the government could not trust the MILF. – With Jose Rodel Clapano