Yield killers? Iqbal can’t promise

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) cannot commit to surrender the killers of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos who had taken part in an operation to arrest top terrorists.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal relayed yesterday his group’s position to senators during the fifth and last hearing on the bloody SAF operation targeting Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

Iqbal said the surrender of the MILF combatants is a “multi-layer, multi-dimensional and very complex issue” that has a “political dimension” and not covered by legal processes.

“There are mechanisms, agreements that would address such kind of violations from both sides if there are. I am referring to ceasefire agreement and terms of reference of the ad hoc joint action group,” Iqbal said.

The Department of Justice and the government peace panel have admitted that it would be difficult to compel the MILF to surrender the killers of the policemen as the identities of those involved have yet to be established.

But Justice Secretary Leila de Lima stressed that the matter cannot be put under the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice – as Iqbal was suggesting – because local authorities were already handling the case.

During the hearing by the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged the MILF to undertake a number of confidence building measures, including turning over Filipino terrorist Basit Usman and returning the weapons and personal belongings of the slain SAF members.

“It took one month for the MILF to finally return 16 of the weapons that were taken from our policemen. Of those 16, 14 were cannibalized,” Marcos said.

“The point is, what is supposed to be a confidence-building measure and an act of good faith has turned into the precise opposite. And this is a classic case of adding insult to injury. In this case, adding insult to death,” he added.

He reminded Iqbal of the MILF’s commitment to assist in the arrest of Usman. He also said the MILF should clarify the nature of its relationship with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

“Blanket denials will not suffice. We need to do more,” Marcos said.

“I implore you, for the sake of the peace process, for the peace process to once again regain the trust of the people, that we have to do better in terms of those confidence building measures,” he added.

Iqbal said he was not questioning the veracity of the claims of the Philippine National Police that the weapons returned by the MILF had been cannibalized, but that “for the sake of really finding the truth,” he is pushing for an independent investigation.

Iqbal appealed to all parties to consider the surrender of the firearms as a gesture of goodwill.

“It is the symbolism, it is the gesture of goodwill that we are willing to do anything that is possible for us to do because we spent a lot of political capital in convincing our fighters to give us back the firearms so that they would be returned to the PNP,” Iqbal said.

“So it took us a really hard time to convince our commanders, our fighters to return the firearms to the PNP because we also spent lives and then there were also destructions,” he said.

“We also promised that remaining firearms will be turned over to PNP as soon as we would have those firearms with us,” he added.

In the hearing presided over by Sen. Grace Poe, Iqbal also demanded the filing of criminal charges against the person seen on viral video finishing off a SAF commando. He said the one who took the video as well as the one who uploaded it should be held criminally liable. It’s not clear if they are one and the same person.

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano reminded Iqbal that uploading the video was not a criminal offense.

Asked by Cayetano what crime the person who uploaded the video commited, Iqbal said “spreading darkness, that is creating intrigues, creating outrages.”

Breaking protocol, Iqbal was allowed to ask Cayetano if the uploading of the video was allowed under Philippine laws.

“Yes, sir. Under the Philippine Constitution, freedom of speech, anyone can be a journalist in the Internet,” Cayetano said.

Iqbal said it was his position that uploading of “weird images” for public viewing is inappropriate.

“Sir, the weird images, it is bad if it is false. But if it is footage that actually took place, then it is news,” Cayetano said.

“That is why the question is, are you ready for democracy because in a democracy, you have to deal with things like this,” he added.

“But democracy is not absolute, there has to be limitations,” Iqbal replied, noting that the Senate committee itself did not allow the viewing of the video during the public hearing.