THE chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) said the panel will indefinitely suspend formal deliberations on the law pending receipt of reports on a clash in Maguindanao that led to deaths of 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF).
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro said in a radio interview on Sunday respective reports from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, PNP, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process are expected to be submitted to his office by Monday afternoon.
“We have agreed last week that we will continue the deliberations on the provisions of the BBL at 9:30 a.m. (Monday) excluding the four deferred provisions (public order and safety, national security, operational control of the chief minister). So we will continue,” said Rodriguez, who is also chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee.
Rodriguez said that the panel decided to suspend its hearing to give members time to study the report carefully. “First of all, when we receive the reports, we should read them very carefully because these will be detailed reports. It cannot be done in a way that we just go and have a hearing. We need to have our time to read the reports. That’s one reason why we will suspend indefinitely until we will have some findings on the reports and what actions that we can do in relation to BBL, in relation into the report.”
Rodriguez added: “Secondly, why we are suspending is because on Wednesday, the Committee on Public Order and Safety together with the Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation and the Committee on National Defense will hear those who had been invited to shed light on the Mamasapano incident. And most of our members in the committee are also chairmen and members of these three committees.”
The lawmaker also admitted that the January 25 incident in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, will delay the passage of the BBL in Congress.
“We are going to await the results of the investigations so that it will give us clearly what should be done to (the) bill so that it can really provide for lasting peace in Mindanao,” Rodriguez said.
He added that the ad hoc panel would also wait for the results of the investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“We would also await the DOJ to finish their investigation so that those commanders and men identified who belong to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) will now be facing multiple criminal charges. And then when the time comes, the committee…me as chairman, would call for the MILF to surrender these people whom the DOJ would find to be responsible for the death of the fallen 44,” he said.
“So we cannot anymore say if we can resume because one, we don’t know when the committees of Congress will end their hearings and come out with their findings and recommendation. We also don’t know when the DOJ would be able to finish its investigation and file charges. So these are the two important things that we have to wait for because we cannot just continue discussions on the bill,” Rodriguez added.
Also on Sunday, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela urged President Aquino to certify as urgent A measure creating an independent fact-finding panel TO investigate the bloody Mamasapano incident.
Gatchalian filed on Wednesday House Bill 5404, to be known as the “Mamasapano Truth Commission Act,” which was patterned after the Davide Commission that investigated the series of attempted coups d’etat against the government of President Corazon Aquino.
Gatchalian said the urgency and gravity of the January 25 incident requires the swift passage of a measure establishing the Mamasapano Truth Commission that will have the power to summon resources persons and witnesses, including President Benigno Aquino III.