Will SAF 44 ever get justice?

Several lawmakers yesterday hit the Aquino administration for the slow justice for the 44 policemen killed in the Mamasapano incident as against the swift passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

The independent bloc at the House of Representatives led by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez challenged the administration to speed

up delivery of justice for the victims of the Mamasapano incident in the same way it pressured congressmen to approve the BBL.

“We always support the peace process provided it is legal and constitutional. But the government should not forget our Fallen 44 heroes,” Romualdez said, referring to members of the police Special Action Force (SAF) killed by Muslim rebels during an encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January.

Most of the gunmen involved in the killing of the 44 policemen were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the organization that has a stake in the passage of the BBL.

The BBL seeks to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao led by the MILF under the peace agreement signed with the government last year.

Romualdez said the BBL is being rushed so that President Aquino would have something of substance to brag about in his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, along with a possible nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The 75-member ad hoc panel, chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, last week approved the draft, which is to be deliberated in plenary starting Wednesday. The BBL, which seeks to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao, is expected to be approved tomorrow by the committees on ways and means, and appropriations for its tax and budget provisions in one hearing.

Rodriguez said the sponsorship speeches for the BBL would signal the start of plenary debates on Wednesday.

He said the House leadership intends to conduct marathon debates from Monday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to midnight to ensure the bill’s passage before Congress adjourns on June 11.

“This is no longer BBL but BLBAR,” Rodriguez said, referring to the acronym Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. “This is a very contentious proposal and there have been many positions given. So we expect each (interpellator) to be listed.”

He said Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is expected to send a formal letter to Aquino today requesting to certify the BBL as urgent to allow the chamber to rush its passage.

With the certification, the chamber – if it is able to muster enough votes – can approve the BBL on third and final reading right after it passes the draft on second reading or in just one or two sessions.

Rodriguez appealed to the Senate to also approve the BBL swiftly so that both chambers can convene the bicameral conference committee to reconcile conflicting provisions of their respective versions even when Congress is adjourned.

He said the administration aims to ratify the BBL on the morning of July 27 or hours before the President delivers his SONA.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the passage of the BBL is a “menu for the unity of this country and antidote to secession. He said the measure would bring development and progress in Mindanao.

Although the MILF hopes the BBL will be enacted soon, Iqbal said that “even if the BBL will not pass Congress, it will always pursue the path of peace in the resolution of the Moro problem or question in Mindanao.”

On the other hand, a military official said the MILF would not resort to violence in case the BBL could not be passed on time.