The probes and the peace process

The more I watch the proceedings of the Congressional probes on the Mamasapano massacre of the SAF 44, the more I am convinced that they are just a waste of time and the peoples’ money. Except for a few sensible queries by the more studious and prudent Senators and Congressmen, the entire proceedings are turning out to be another big circus. Most of our legislators are grandstanding again and merely trying to impress the public or taking advantage of extensive media coverage.

Indeed the only useful aspect of the probes is a confirmation of how useless our Congress has become. Observers of the on-going activities in both Chambers have become more and more convinced that it should be abolished, or that another kind of legislative body should be put in place, or a new breed of legislators should be installed in order to have a government of, by, and for the people.

The probes are supposed to find out the truth behind the brutal killings of the country’s elite police commandos. But as it is now turning out, they are just being used to precisely distort the facts of the case and to hide what really happened. They have become the means for the witnesses or resource persons called to account for the unfortunate incident, to shield the main protagonists calling the shots, to cover-up for them by buck-passing and finger-pointing, and to extricate themselves by twisting the concept of their true role in the operation or by alluding to “fall guys” and “escape goats.”

Under our existing constitutional framework, the only role of Congress in connection with this incident is to investigate in aid of legislation particularly the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). But it is quite clear at this stage that even before starting said probes they have already decided to postpone deliberations on the BBL. So Congress should just discontinue with their investigations of the incident which are more of fact finding than in aid of legislation. 

The fact finding aspects should be left to agencies better equipped to establish and verify them. In fact a Board of Inquiry has also been established for this purpose. With so many other bodies conducting probes of the incidents, including the MILF itself which appears to be one of the main perpetrators of the deplorable killings, chances are there will be as many “truths” as there are probe bodies. At this stage, the idea of having a single independent “Truth Commission” looks more and more preferable and imperative.

Actually all these probes by Congress and other bodies could have been avoided if the present administration especially P-Noy, has been more transparent and candid in his account of what happened. As the Chief Executive of this country, he must have been on top of this “Oplan” variedly called “Exodus,” Wolverine,” etc. because it involves the enforcement of our laws particularly the arrest of wanted high value terrorists hiding in our territory. He must have been apprised of the blow by blow up to the minute actions on the ground. Unfortunately, his last two addresses to the nation raised more questions than answers.

Apparently P-Noy’s lack of transparency and tendency to be unclear about the incident is that he does not want the peace accord with the MILF to be scrapped especially the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which is necessary for its implementation. In fact in his personal messages to us regarding the Mamasapano carnage he was not so specific on the government’s concrete action against members of this group who apparently participated in the savage killings. The attempt on his part to avoid antagonizing the group and jeopardizing the peace process is quite noticeable. He seems to be obsessed with implementing a peace accord with the MILF. This observation has been confirmed by the government’s Chief Adviser on peace Ging Deles in her appearance in the Senate probe when she appealed that we should not rashly condemn the MILF.

All Filipinos perhaps desire peace in our country especially in that part of Mindanao. But this peace must be real and durable. And the main reason why this kind of peace seems to be far-fetched, and the biggest hindrance in achieving it is the MILF, the only other party to the peace agreement that P-Noy and his government is trying to push through. There are indeed so many questions in our minds on why this government still believes that true and lasting peace can be achieve there if we deal only with the MILF especially after Mamasapano.

First, the background and the track record of this group immediately raise doubts on whether they really want peace. Indeed the last unfortunate incident where they are involved already shows that they are coddlers of international terrorists. Coddlers of terrorists are nothing but terrorists also who are inherently not after peace but power, as correctly observed by Senator Alan Cayetano.

Such observation is confirmed by their stance on the recent move to arrest the wanted terrorist by the PNP SAF. MILF claims that government should have coordinated with them before carrying out the arrest warrant in order to avoid such unfortunate mis-encounter. Obviously they already consider that part of our territory as belonging to them over which they have full control which is clearly in derogation of our sovereignty. This is a belligerent act contrary to the real essence of peace.

Furthermore, MILF’s stance in the on-going moves of the government to give justice to the SAF 44 fallen heroes also indicate lack of sincerity. Their leaders defy the call for their appearance in the investigation. While they assure the return of the firearms taken from the victims they refuse to identify and surrender the members of the group who participated in the brutal massacre. And they even sided with the BIFF who already seceded from them.

Obviously the peace that we will have with the MILF will be just like the peace we reached with the MNLF from which they seceded. This will not be a real and durable peace. The BIFF which seceded from them will create more trouble.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]