House to resume SAF probe before BBL

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – The committee on public safety and order of the House of Representatives will resume its inquiry on the Mamasapano raid on April 7 and 8 before tackling the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Negros Occidental fourth district Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, who chairs the committee, confirmed this on Thursday.

“We cannot deliberate on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) unless we are through with our report on the Mamasapano incident,” Ferrer said.

The BBL is the product of the peace talks between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and will be the legal basis for the creation of an autonomous Bangsamoro entity in Mindanao.

However, congressional deliberations on the BBL were suspended after the MILF and its supposed splinter group the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters attacked Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) commandos while they were on a mission to arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and his Filipino cohort Basit Usman in Mamasapano last Jan. 25.

The gun battle resulted in the massacre of 44 SAF men.

Ferrer said the resumption of the House inquiry will be based on the reports of the Senate, the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry and MILF on the Mamasapano incident.

He also asked his colleagues in Congress to dwell more on finding out who are really responsible for the deadly operation in the remote Maguindanao town rather than focus on the parliamentary procedures of the hearing.

As to whether the committee will invite President Aquino to the inquiry or not, Ferrer said that will depend on the decision of the majority of its members, since they are aware of the separation of powers between the executive and the legislative.

However, apprehension is growing that the House committee deliberating on the BBL might change many provisions in the measure because of the Mamasapano incident.

For this reason, a consortium of Muslim civil society organizations advocating the signing of the BBL have urged the MILF to remove provisions that will hinder the passage of the law.

Mohammad Nung Ajihil, one of the convenors, said their stand will depend on the position of how the MILF will see the possible diluted version of the BBL.

“How can we decide and call upon them (MILF) should the BBL be watered down? We can perhaps ask them to look into the provisions (of BBL) to be removed,” Ajihil told reporters.

The group also issued manifestos telling the President not to resign and to continue the peace process in Mindanao.

“We realized that the best legacy is to bequeath peace for the coming generation. That is why we wholeheartedly support President Aquino in his quest and stride towards peace even beyond 2016. We say in chorus a very big no to resign P-Noy,” said Habib Gamaluddin Kiram of the Philippine Council for Sama and Bajau.

Atiola Jamsuri, chair of the Federation of Bangsamoro Association in Western Mindanao Inc., said they also support Aquino in entering into a peace agreement with the MILF as an effort to bring lasting peace in Mindanao. With Roel Pareño