Iqbal to face Senate today

MANILA, Philippines - Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal will face the Senate today, but only in an executive session, to talk about  the Jan. 25 Mamasapano clash that killed 44 police commandos, government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said yesterday.

Ferrer relayed Iqbal’s promise to members and guests of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP). Iqbal did not show up at yesterday’s House hearing on the incident.

At the FOCAP forum, Ferrer also defended the MILF against allegations that it is a terrorist organization.

“Unlike the New People’s Army that is listed as a terrorist group, the MILF is not listed in the UN Council nor in the Philippines’ list of terrorist groups,” she said.

“The MILF is a revolutionary government. They have not yet fully transformed. We are not at war with the MILF because we have a ceasefire,” Ferrer said.

She also said the Mamasapano incident was not a case of massacre, but a combat situation won by forces of the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

“I sympathize with the families of the Special Action Force commandos killed, but what we had was a combat situation. It was a real fight,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer also rebuffed accusations against the MILF that it was coddling international terrorists including Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Basit Usman.

“There is a call for the turnover of Basit Usman. The question is whether Basit Usman is in their (MILF) hands,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer said the cooperation between the government and the MILF had been going smoothly until the Mamasapano incident.

She said that in January and February 2014, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) conducted operations against the BIFF without the MILF engaging the government troops because the operation was coordinated 72 hours prior to its execution.

“Jan. 25 was a judgment call of the head of the operations not to coordinate. General (Director) Getulio Napeñas said it was mission accomplished. But at a high cost, the Bangsamoro Basic Law suffered,” Ferrer said, referring to the sacked chief of the SAF.

Ferrer said Iqbal had assured her of the return of firearms and equipment taken by the MILF fighters from dead SAF commandos.

She said the MILF is also conducting its own investigation.

She admitted the MILF is still considered an armed group operating camps in Maguindanao, the biggest of which is Camp Bushra.

Ferrer said the agreement signed by the government with the MILF peace panels involved the decommissioning of arms of the group.

Earlier yesterday, Iqbal sent a letter to two House committees hearing the Mamasapano incident explaining his absence.

In his letter, Iqbal said the MILF is still conducting its own investigation into the bloodbath.

He said he would appear before the two panels to present the result of the probe and air the side of the MILF.

No-show at House

Like in his letter to the Senate, he suggested that his statements be heard in a closed-door session.

He also informed congressmen that the MILF has decided to return the firearms and whatever “retrievable” personal items his organization’s men “recovered” from the dead policemen. Iqbal gave no timetable for the turnover.

In his place, he said the MILF would be represented in the hearing by Rasid Ladiasan, its representative in the coordinating committee on the cessation of hostilities in Mindanao.

In his letter to the Senate, Iqbal said the MILF would remain as a “revolutionary organization” until the peace agreement it has signed with the government is implemented. He did not mention this in his letter to congressmen.

In the course of the hearing, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. asked Ladiasan whether the MILF would turn over its fighters and commanders involved in the Mamasapano bloodbath in case the Department of Justice files criminal charges against them. Ladiasan said the question should be addressed to Iqbal.

The MILF chief negotiator had been participating in the hearings of the House ad hoc committee on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) over a four-month period until last December. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Jess Diaz, Christina Mendez