Dimaporo urges tighter security as Congress discusses BBL
AS the House of Representatives prepares to deliberate on the new version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), a Lanao del Norte lawmaker is asking Congress to compel state security forces to tighten security measures in his home province.
Lanao del Norte 1st District Representative Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo said that in his privilege speech in Congress on August 29, he has asked the Lower House to request the armed forces to send in additional troops and equipment to prevent any violence that could erupt should an armed group decide to attack the province.
Dimaporo said it is important to deploy at least five battalions of soldiers so what happened in 2008 in Lanao del Norte where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) attacked some of its towns will not be repeated.
“With that in mind, I ask that the security of Lanao del Norte be ensured to prevent another recurrence of an MILF attack while the 17th Congress deliberates the [BBL]. For this purpose, I have filed three house resolutions in an attempt to ensure the safety and security of my constituents,” he said in a statement.
BBL was drafted to establish the new Bangsamoro political entity and provide for its basic structure of government, in recognition of the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.
The MILF initiated the attacks in Lanao del Norte following the failure of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which the Moro separatist rebels and the government of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed, but was met with massive opposition from other sectors in Mindanao, in 2008.
Despite assurances from Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ground commander, MILF fighters attacked the towns of Kauswagan and Kolambugan. MILF leader Abdullah Makapaar, alias “Commander Bravo,” used civilians as human shield, in their retreat.
“What we’ve learned from the MOA-AD attacks,” Dimaporo said, “is that two battalions are not enough. The MILF were able to succeed because when one battalion was assigned to protect Lanao del Norte, the area of the province was too wide, making the battalion spread too thin. It was only when five battalions arrived in the province that we were able to push back and maintain the MILF in the boundary of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.”
Aside from his proposal to increase the military presence in his province, Dimaporo also filed resolutions in Congress directing the Department of Transportation, in coordination with the Philippine Air Force, to convert the Balo-i airport to an Air Force base to augment the security forces in the area.
Another resolution was filed to direct the Department of Justice to submit
to the appropriate committee a copy of the case filed against Commander Bravo and his warrant of arrest in relation to the 2008 MILF attack in Lanao del Norte.
“The attack should never be forgotten, it should be taken into account especially during the deliberation of the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” he said.
“We should not forget that they [MILF] cunningly misinformed their AFP counterparts regarding their conduct of training exercises, yet in actuality they were amassing their forces for a planned attack on Kauswagan and Kolambugan. We should not forget that although their fight is with the government they came down from the mountains with the objective to harm innocent civilians,” the congressman added.
Dimaporo said: “And now that the administration is tackling the [BBL], Congress should start with this premise: Remember what happened to us in Lanao del Norte. D not blindly trust the MILF Central Committee to have full control over their ground leaders and fighters.”
President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to push for the approval of the BBL when he received the new draft last July.
The BBL draft, the President said, is “a significant step forward in our quest to end centuries of hatred, mistrust and injustice that caused and affected the lives of millions of Filipinos.”