CEBU -- Four of nine district lawmakers from Cebu City and Province expressed support Monday for suspending deliberations on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
While the four congressmen said they all support the search for peace in Mindanao, they also said the more urgent task now is to get to the bottom of what happened last January 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, where 44 elite policemen died in pursuit of a terrorist.
“I support the peace process. However, I have reservations on the BBL on constitutional grounds,” said Representative Joseph Ace Durano (Cebu Province, fifth district). “With the massacre of our SAF (Special Action Force) men, I have reservations now as well as on the sincerity and ability of the MILF to be a partner of the Philippine Government in bringing about lasting peace in Mindanao.”
Durano said he is keeping an open mind and hopes that the investigation will address all reservations about the BBL.
Questions
Former House deputy speaker Pablo Garcia, however, said that passing the BBL would be an exercise in futility.
He told the Senate hearing on the constitutional issues of the draft Bangsamoro law that the proposal is “palpably and incorrigibly unconstitutional.”
Among the questions raised against the BBL is that it would grant the Bangsamoro greater powers than those allowed the two autonomous regions identified in the 1987 Constitution, namely, the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Among others, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has also pointed out that a parliamentary government for the Bangsamoro cannot be created, while the rest of the country remains under a presidential form of government.
“The inconvenient yet fundamental and compelling truth,” Garcia said, “is that unless and until the Constitution is amended or revised by the Filipino people, Congress cannot, I’m sure, enact the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.”
‘Elementary justice’
Interviewed separately, Representative Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu Province, fourth district) said he, too, agreed with suspending deliberations on the BBL, until the country gets a clearer picture of what happened in Mamasapano.
“I join our fellow Filipinos in condemning the killing of our policemen,” Salimbangon said.
Representative Rodrigo Abellanosa (Cebu City, south) said that before the massacre in Mamasapano, he already saw that the BBL had too many objectionable provisions.
“The massacre of our law enforcers has enraged millions of Filipinos. It is now our collective mandate, not just of the lawmakers, to assume a keen, incisive and even a contemptuous attitude to the peace efforts proffered by the BBL proposal,” Abellanosa said.
What’s important, said Representative Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. (Cebu Province, first district), is that the rule of law must be upheld.
“We must remember that our lost heroes were there to enforce the rule of law and they were the very people who swore to keep peace. If we cannot commit to elementary justice, then we cannot commit to lasting peace,” Gullas said.
As of press time, district Representatives Gwendolyn Garcia, Wilfredo Caminero and Luis Gabriel Quisumbing had yet to respond to requests for their comments.
Assurance
Two other Cebuanos in Congress who represent party-list organizations also weighed in on the discussion.
Representative Raymond Democrito Mendoza said that TUCP Party-List remains committed to the search for peace in Mindanao.
“We are also committed to justice for the SAF 44. We will ensure that the BBL conforms to our Constitution and national laws. If we don’t work for peace now, the alternative will be another vicious form of warfare, such as that waged by ISIS,” Mendoza said.
According to initial reports, the skirmish last January 25 involved not only the SAF operatives against MILF troops, but also members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway organization that has previously expressed support for ISIS.
Representative Francisco Ashley Acedillo of Magdalo party-list said that the government should secure a commitment from the MILF that in case of future encounters with the BIFF or Abu Sayyaf, the MILF would order their fighters to disengage, whether it’s the police or the military that’s involved.
“The President must demand this from the MILF leadership,” Acedillo said.
“As commander-in-chief, President Aquino must share both in the successes and achievements of his troops, as well as with their failures and losses. Sadly in Mamasapano, it is the latter that he must bear as well,” said Acedillo, who served in the Air Force. - By Elias O. Baquero(With Sunnex/Sun.Star Cebu)
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