Esperon opposes Bangsamoro military command creation under proposed BBL

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Tuesday opposed the creation of a Bangsamoro Military Command under the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

At the Senate subcommittee hearing on BBL, Esperon cautioned that a separate command will be used by leaders “for their own interest.”

“May I take the position that we should not create a command that will be under the control of the autonomous region,” Esperon said.

Esperon said the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Eastern Mindanao Command and Western Mindanao Command are already “enough and sufficient.”

“In this kind of structure, I believe that the Armed Forces would be better able to serve the purposes of defense and security without becoming a potential instrument of the leaders or of personalities in an area for their own interest,” Esperson argued. 

Esperon said the military may be “flexible” on the possible creation of task groups in the proposed Bangsamoro area.

Under Section 147 of the proposed BBL, the defense of the Bangsamoro entity shall be the responsibility of the central government. It said “the central government shall create a Bangsamoro Military Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the Bangsamoro.”

“Qualified inhabitants of the Bangsamoro territory shall be given preference in the leadership of Command for assignments in the said Bangsamoro Military Command,” it said.

Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) member Jose Lorena said the creation of a military command for the autonomous region is already provided in Republic Act 9054, which strengthened and expanded the Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“Since it is already vested in that law, the BTC did not change it, except the name, because it is provided,” Lorena said.

Meanwhile, Esperon said the BBL will allow the “peaceful transition” of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front from an armed group to a “legitimate political actor.”

He cautioned that failure to pass the BBL will result in a “grimmer picture” as the Moro people are “beginning to lose faith in the peace process.”

He said the Marawi siege last year is an indicator of the “growing discontent” among the Moro community.

“The succesful conclusion of the peace process is still the most effective vacctination against the risk of violent extremism in our country,” Esperon said.

Senator Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the subcommittee on BBL, committed to passing the proposal on third and final reading by March this year. —ALG, GMA News