Miriam to Iqbal: How do you expect the BBL to pass after Mamasapano incident

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Thursday grilled Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal how he expected the Bangsamoro Basic Law to get passed in Senate after the hours-long firefight in Mamasapano last January 25.

 

"How do you expect the Bangsamoro Basic Law to pass the Senate with this perfidious tragedy?" Santiago asked Iqbal during the Senate hearing. "How do you think I feel as chair of the committee on constitutional amendments, trying very hard to fit constitutional principles into the mold of the draft law when I see 44 Filipinos died in their boots?"

 

The senator also asked Iqbal if they really had good faith in the crafting of the BBL, pointing out the MILF's inability to inform the government that wanted international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and known bomb-maker Abdul Basit Usman were in their territory.

 

"I submit to you, Sir, that this failure to convey vital information to your negotiation partners is an abject sign of bad faith," she said. 

 

Similar to their previous responses to the media, Iqbal maintained on Thursday they did not know that Marwan and Usman were in their area. 

 

During the hearing, Iqbal stressed that the MILF is bound by the mechanisms they entered into as part of the peace agreement, including the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), a coordinative body formed "to effect the apprehension and arrest of the suspected criminal elements" within the group's areas.

 

However, Santiago countered: "This is answerable by a yes or a no: Are you willing to help the government to chase after Usman and other terrorists?"

 

Iqbal responded: "Yes, we will help."

 

'Bangsamoro problem'

 

Later on, Iqbal reiterated the need for the passage of the BBL as he clarified his statement that the MILF remains a revolutionary organization until the peace pact is sealed with its enactment. 

 

During the Senate probe, Iqbal was asked by Senator JV Ejercito what he meant when he wrote to the Senate in a letter dated Monday: "Until the peace agreement is fully implemented, we will remain to be a revolutionary organization."
 

"It simply means that the problem which is described as the 'Bangsamoro Problem' or 'Bangsamoro Question' is not finished. So we need to assert efforts so this will be addressed," Iqbal replied. — RSJ, GMA News