THE chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) on Monday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to finish its Mamasapano probe and file criminal charges immediately against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter (BIFF) and some members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City, chairman of the panel, said the DOJ should revise the April 2 deadline to a much earlier date for its investigators to finish the Mamasapano probe.
Rodriguez said the 75 members of the panel also want the MILF to surrender its fighters whom the DOJ may charge before the committee voting on the BBL on March 18.
“The DOJ has conducted a comprehensive investigation here [and] Secretary [Leila] de Lima has said that she will finish by April [2]. Well, we are requesting the secretary to fast-track this because ’pag-April pa ang DOJ, papaano naman ang ating BBL kung hindi pa natin mai-file ang kaso?” Rodriguez.
No disclosure
AT the DOJ, de Lima, however, refused to disclose the identity of the vital witnesses that she said the justice department was able to access during their trip to Mindanao last week as part of its ongoing case build-up in connection with the killing of the 44 elite members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (SAF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, during a gun battle with members of the MILF and the BIFF.
“I cannot confirm nor deny kung sino ’yung witness or witnesses na na-access namin. Ang sinasabi ko lang these are very vital witnesses, pero ’di pwede isiwalat at this point kung sino sila,” de Lima told reporters.
De Lima insisted that the witnesses are vital in the ongoing efforts to identify and file criminal charges against the killers of the 44 SAF men.
Earlier reports described the vital witness as a member and veteran combatant of the MILF group and allegedly close to wanted Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Filipino terrorist Basit Usman.
The reports added that the MILF man had talked to de Lima and investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation in an undisclosed place in Mindanao last week.
The MILF member-turned witness, according to reports, can identify the MILF members who took part in the Mamasapano encounter, where the PNP-SAF commandos, part of the team that took out Marwan in the early morning of January 25, were killed.
The justice secretary added that the investigation panel is still waiting for the clearance from the military before proceeding to the clash site, where they expect more witnesses to cooperate.
Marathon hearings
Meanwhile, Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela has expressed support to the plan of the House leadership to resume hearings on the Mamasapano bloodbath to help in the overall effort to ferret out the truth behind the incident, and ultimately provide justice to the “Fallen 44” police commandos.
Albano, a member of the House minority bloc, also proposed the conduct of marathon hearings as soon as the House Joint Committees on Public Order and Safety, Peace, Reconciliation and Unity reopens its discussion into the bloody encounter between government troops and the Moro rebels.
The House of Representatives has indefinitely suspended its Mamasapano hearing pending the Board of Inquiry investigation.
‘Cover-up’
Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon of Kabataan has slammed the ongoing all-out offensive of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against the BIFF, which has reportedly displaced more than 20,000 people in Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
“The Aquino administration is calling it an ‘all-out offensive’ but that’s a big understatement. What’s happening in Mindanao right now is an all-out war, and no amount of euphemism can hide that,” Ridon said.
The lawmaker tagged the offensive as part of the all-out cover-up of the indispensable role played by President Aquino in the disastrous raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz. Joel R. San Juan and Marvyn Benaning