MANILA, Philippines - Wounded policemen were
finished off while the dead were riddled with more bullets as they lay on the
ground, a survivor of last Sunday’s attack on Special Action Force (SAF)
members in Maguindanao said yesterday.
The brutality of the attack and the high
death toll prompted the Senate yesterday to suspend deliberations on the
proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and demand an explanation from the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the
Senate committee on local government, said the MILF should explain the
“horrific” killings of 49 SAF members when they walked into an ambush last
Sunday by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who were
later joined by the MILF.
Marcos said he decided to stop the hearings on
the BBL until the MILF gives a satisfactory explanation for what the rebel
group described as a “misencounter.”
An ad hoc committee at the House of Representatives
also announced it would suspend hearings on certain provisions of the BBL,
specifically those involving security and armed forces.
“We cannot, in conscience, proceed with these
hearings while a cloud of serious doubt hangs over the security situation in
the south,” Marcos said.
“A peace agreement cannot be legislated under
the threat of such extreme violence. Violence has no room in a civilized
society,“ he said.
A survivor in the fighting whose identity was
withheld told GMA News he witnessed rebels finishing off his wounded comrades.
He said gunmen fired multiple rounds at dead or wounded policemen belonging to
the elite Special Action Force (SAF).
He said the incident threatens to derail the
ongoing peace negotiations anchored on Congress’ approval of the BBL.
Lawmakers are working overtime to pass the BBL
in time for the scheduled plebiscite on the measure by October. Discussions on
constitutionality and security issues were being done in three Senate
committees.
“And if we have been driven to the first step in
that process wherein we have not put our guns down, then there is a distinct
problem in negotiating that,” Marcos said, referring to the peace agreement.
“How is that (peace talks) now going to be
affected by the fact that one of the parties to this peace agreement has had
this action killing government forces; that there is one side of the table
wherein there is still military and violent action being undertaken against
government forces. How will that affect our discussions here?”
Marcos also wanted to verify reports that the
SAF team was on a mission to serve a warrant of arrest on a “high-value
target,” Malaysian explosives expert Julkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.
The MILF leadership should “tell me how exactly
this happened and how will this affect what we are doing,” Marcos said.
“Because it is very difficult to negotiate a
peace process when one party is still at war. And I think the very first
premise is that we lay our guns down, we talk, we come to an agreement and we
implement that agreement,” Marcos said.
He said the use of excessive force against a
group of law enforcers was unacceptable, considering that they were supposedly
on a mission to arrest terrorists reportedly hiding in rebel camps.
BBL support withdrawn
Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said
he is withdrawing his support for the BBL in response to the Maguindanao
killings.
“With the recent events involving the slaughter
of our policemen in Mindanao, there is reason to doubt the commitment of the
MILF for a framework peace and development in Mindanao,” Cayetano said.
“What’s the BBL for if they can’t control the
area and if they would blame ‘lack of coordination’ for the killing of 50
policemen? So I’m withdrawing my co-authorship of the BBL and I seriously doubt
if the peace agreement will ever survive,” he added.
Sen. JV Ejercito said that he is also mulling
over withdrawing his signature from the bill for the same reasons.
“I’m also contemplating withdrawing my signature
because of what happened to our police officers. We need to be more careful and
I think we need a thorough study with the Bangsamoro. So I’m contemplating on
withdrawing my signature,” he said.
Sen. Grace Poe said that she would file a
resolution calling for an inquiry into the incident to determine if proper
procedures were followed by the SAF men in carrying out their mission.
Poe said that she wants to find out if the SAF
members who were sent to go after the terrorists were familiar with the terrain
and if their movements were properly coordinated.
She said that there would be a hearing by the
Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs on the PNP Modernization, which
she heads, on Feb. 11 and that the issue of the bloody encounter could also be
taken up.
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago also cautioned
proponents of the BBL against rushing its approval.
“We are going to pay a very high price for
Mindanao whether or not we pass the BBL in the form of an ordinary law or in
the form of constitutional amendment or revision. That’s the first point,” she
said.
“And second point is that there is a possibility
that with or without the BBL, that Bangsamoro territories might decide to
secede because of developments after the Bangsamoro action has been taken,”
Santiago added.
Santiago pointed out that the measure would not
stand legal scrutiny and that it would be questioned immediately before the
Supreme Court once Congress approves it without deleting some questionable
provisions.
“If the BBL proponents remain adamant about the
issues raised today by the legal eagles of our country, that will certainly
lead to Supreme Court adjudication,” she said.
“It will also not help solve the problem of the
outburst of violence in Mindanao, for example, because it will only delay the
process,” Santiago added.
She also shared the sentiments raised by some
legal luminaries that the Bangsamoro government cannot be under a parliamentary
system since the country is under a presidential form.
“The Philippines enters negotiations with a
group that is motley, they represent one of the factions of those fighting in
Mindanao,” she said, referring to the MILF.
Santiago convened the Senate committee on
constitutional amendments yesterday despite the bloody encounter in
Maguindanao.
“It will be counter-productive to postpone the
public exchange of ideas regarding the constitutionality of the provisions in
the BBL,” Santiago added.
“In fact, the hearing should continue with even
more rigor because nothing will affect the hearing, not the unfortunate incidence
of violence, for example,” she said.
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