House: Mamasapano probe first before BBL

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  – A majority of the members of the House of Representatives’ ad hoc committee on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) have agreed to first resume the hearing on the Mamasapano incident before deliberating on the BBL.

Speaking over a local radio station, Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat yesterday said they sent a letter asking committee chairman  Rufus Rodriguez to first allow the resumption of inquiry on the Mamasapano debacle.

The lawmakers saw inconsistencies in the results of the investigation of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Mamasapano, Lobregat said.

House committee on public order chairman Jeffrey Ferrer and committee on peace, unity and reconciliation chairman Jim Hataman-Salliman will resume a joint hearing on Mamasapano on April 7 and 8.

Lobregat said the MILF’s findings accusing the Special Action Force (SAF) of committing a ceasefire violation failed to justify the coddling of terrorists or criminals within their area.

“But curiously, when they return the 17 firearms, one of those firearms belonged to PO2 Joseph Sagonoy, the very SAF member who was seen being finished off,” he said.

Another inconsistency was the MILF’s denial that their guerrilla was not the man shown in the video shooting a SAF commando identified as PO2 Sagonoy, he added.

Iqbal meets archbishop

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal arrived yesterday in Cagayan de Oro City without armed escorts to meet with Archbishop Antonio Ledesma.

“I come in peace and will leave Cagayan de Oro in peace,” Iqbal said.

For his part,  Ledesma said, “Mr. Iqbal has come to our city as a man of peace. As such, we are opening our arms to a brother who stayed the course of peace in Mindanao; despite the trials and challenges, he continues to face them in our common quest for peace.”

Ledesma debunked rumors that Iqbal had arrived with a heavily armed retinue.

Fr. Roberto Yap, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan president, said the MILF has come with substantial compromises.

“And the Aquino administration is willing to test the boundaries of its powers to enact a new law that would give the Bangsamoro meaningful autonomy in a limited territory while preserving national sovereignty and national integrity,” he said.

Public officials, religious and business organizations have found hope in the MILF’s assurance that it will sustain the peace process.

In its report on Mamasapano, the MILF denied coddling terrorists and claimed there was a failure of intelligence in its inability to detect the presence of  Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, within its area.

Speaking to reporters in Legazpi City yesterday, Sen. Francis Escudero said that the BBL will not pass the Senate “without amending its provisions which are against the Constitution.”

Escudero said the peace agreement with the MILF does not cover the entire Mindanao, and senators will consider the interest of the entire country, not only of the MILF or the envisioned Bangsamoro.

MILF report insults intelligence

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said the MILF report on Mamasapano was deceitful and an insult to the intelligence of the Filipino people.

Speaking in a forum at the Senate, Cayetano said the MILF report  gave indisputable proof that it has ties with terrorists and coddled them.

He sees no reason why the government should continue negotiating in good faith with the MILF, which has not demonstrated anything but bad faith.

Cayetano said that it would be an opportunity for the MILF and the government peace panel to answer all unanswered questions about Mamasapano when the Senate committee on local government resumes hearings on the Bangsamoro bill on April 13. – With John Unson, Gerry Lee Gorit, Cet Dematera, Celso Amo, Jose Rodel Clapano, Marvin Sy, Christina Mendez, Jaime Laude, Alexis Romero