House suspends BBL hearings indefinitely

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has indefinitely suspended hearings on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law after the killing of 44 police commandos in Maguindanao last Jan. 25 derailed its timetable in passing the BBL, a congressman said yesterday.

“We cannot meet our self-imposed deadline of endorsing our version of the BBL this month and having it passed by the House before our Lenten break next month because of this unfortunate incident in Mamasapano,” Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said yesterday.

Rodriguez chairs the 75-member special committee drafting the House version of the proposed law that would create a new Bangsamoro region in Muslim Mindanao.

He and his members have been holding closed-door sessions for the past two weeks, writing the House version after conducting 36 public hearings and consultations in Mindanao and other parts of the country.

The draft BBL is a product of 17 years of peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose men, together with those of its breakaway faction Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, had an encounter with policemen out to arrest two terrorists.

The policemen had killed Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in Mamasapano and were mowed down while they were withdrawing.

“I even doubt if we can finish our work in the committee before our annual mandatory adjournment in June. We are no longer following any deadline or timetable,” Rodriguez said.

He said his committee would convene today just to receive the reports on the Mamasapano carnage it has sought from the military, Philippine National Police, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“After that, we are suspending hearings and the work of the committee indefinitely until the results of two investigations are out so we will know what happened,” he said.

These investigations are those of the House committees on public order, peace and reconciliation, and national defense, and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“We will also wait for the identification by the DOJ of those responsible for the death of our policemen and the filing of charges because we cannot have peace without justice. We will resume our work when justice is being implemented,” Rodriguez said.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said he supports the committee decision to temporarily suspend work pending the results of investigations, “but we cannot have the BBL hanging indefinitely.”

“If this is what will bring peace and development to Mindanao, then let us have it. Let us pass it,” he said.

He said the House and the Senate have enough time before the expiration of President Aquino’s term on June 30, 2016 to approve the BBL.

The Aquino administration has promised the MILF that it would work for the approval of the proposed law within its term. In fact, it planned to have the election for the officials of the new region simultaneously with the voting for Aquino’s successor, members of Congress and local officials in May 2016.

For his part, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said with what happened in Mamasapano, the viable option on the BBL is to have the plebiscite on its territory in May 2016, instead of the election of its officials.

“That is if the Senate will approve it,” he said.

Senate probe

Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II is going to attend the Senate inquiry that will tackle the breach of security, violation of chain of command as well as operational lapses in the Mamasapano carnage.

Sen. Grace Poe will convene the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs today after senators filed resolutions asking the committee to investigate the Mamasapano encounter.

Roxas and PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina have both claimed that they were left in the dark about the operations.

Military officials also blamed sacked SAF commander Chief Superintendent Getulio Napeñas over the failure to provide proper coordination that prevented the timely response to help the besieged police commandos, resulting in the killing of 44 SAF men.

Also invited to the public hearing were resigned police chief Alan Purisima, presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang, government chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, and Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. – With Christina Mendez