House panel on BBL extends deadline on Mamasapano report

MANILA, Philippines - The ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives deliberating on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law has extended to next Monday its deadline for the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other agencies to submit their reports on the Mamasapano incident before the chamber would decide whether to continue or stop discussions on the BBL.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the panel, said he and other committee members were disappointed with the reports submitted by PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina and Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang on the incident at around 6 p.m. last night.

The committee had twice written the PNP, the Armed Forces, as well as the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao leadership to submit their reports by 5 p.m. yesterday.

The two reports mentioned recent bombing incidents in Mindanao and the PNP version made no reference at all to Mamasapano, where 44 members of its Special Action Forces were killed by guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Catapang’s report referred to the guerrillas as members of the “Southern Philippines separatist group.”

“We find these very unsatisfactory. This is unacceptable. We’re very disappointed. Newspapers have more information than these,” Rodriguez told reporters last night.

North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco described the PNP report as a “police blotter.”

Rodriguez said the panel found the actions of Catapang and Espina as evasive and only served to further dampen the interest of many members in continuing discussions on the BBL.

He said the committee also approved the motion of Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo Biazon to secure copies of the organizational plan of “Oplan Wolverine” of the PNP-SAF, the post-operation report and the decommissioning agreement signed between the government and the MILF in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, for her part, said there is a need to amend the Constitution to pave way for the creation of a Bangsamoro government.

“The BBL cannot be passed as a mere piece of legislation at the Senate. It has to be done by revision or amendments,” Santiago said after the hearing of Senate committee on constitutional amendments, which she chairs.

She also said the peace process will not progress “unless justice is done to the family and those who died” in the clash that killed 44 SAF commandos.

“I believe that peace is too monumental to be left to chance and to differing constitutional perceptions and opinions. I think that Congress should treat the constitutionally objectionable portions of the BBL as amendments to the Constitution by passing them upon the vote of three-fourths of Congress,” said former chief justice Artemio Panganiban.

But Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Abul Khayr Alonto maintained the need to pass the BBL despite the Mamasapano incident.

“While we share the pain of the families of those fallen warriors on both sides, this honorable chamber cannot renege on the BBL, and more so cannot support the resumption of war in Mindanao,” Alonto said.

At Malacañang, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Congress is free to scrutinize all issues surrounding the proposed BBL amid questions on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s commitment to peace.

“We need to address all these concerns for one to have a just and lasting peace and that’s why we are looking into the incident in Mamasapano,” Lacierda said.

“We’re also looking into how this happened, why the (MILF) fired upon so many of our commandos when they were not intended targets. So these things need healing. These things need to be discussed… so we can find a way forward because again, the alternative to peace is just too costly for us,” Lacierda said.

He said the MILF is expected to cooperate with the government in obtaining justice for the 44 SAF operatives although the mechanisms on how exactly this could be done were not yet clear.  – With Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez, Sheila Crisostomo, Janvic Mateo, Jose Rodel Clapano