Congress takes aim to slay MILF ‘monster’

Mohagher Iqbal, chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, had the gall to reprimand Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez for setting conditions for the approval of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) under review by Congress.

Delivering a tongue-lashing to a senior member of an independent Philippine institution, Iqbal said in an interview with the Inquirer: “We need to respect each other. When you make demands, you are no longer negotiating. You are dictating.”

Iqbal warned that “if the BBL is watered down, you will not be solving the problem,” and added: “Our relationship is based on the documents we signed,” referring to the agreements that have set protocols on how the negotiating parties would deal with one another.

Iqbal was speaking on behalf of the MILF with an authoritative tone, which left the impression that it was acting as if it were an entity on equal footing with the Philippine republic, from which it is seeking to carve out an autonomous Bangsamoro substate.

Based on the signed agreements, Iqbal claimed that the MILF’s relationship with the Philippine government is “political and legal”—an assertion for which he has not provided a factual basis. All he could say was that the MILF remains a revolutionary group until the peace agreement that it signed with the government last year is validated by an enabling legislation (the BBL). It was Iqbal who was dictating to Congress how it would review legislation infringing on the sovereignty of the Philippine state, which is not subordinate to the claims of the proposed Bangsamoro substate.

Iqbal’s comments were in reaction to the statement of Rodriguez, chair of the House of Representatives’ ad hoc committee on the BBL, that its passage would depend on the surrender of the firearms seized by MILF fighters from 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special

Action Force killed during the Jan. 25 clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Rodriguez also said the MILF should surrender its fighters involved in the slaughter of the SAF troopers who were then going after Malaysian terrorist Marwan and his Filipino associate Basit Usman. The two men were then in MILF-controlled territory.

The comments of Iqbal represent a challenge to the powers of Congress to review legislation. The new controversy over the massacre has hardened the impasse in the Mindanao peace process, with Congress suspending deliberations on the BBL.

Iqbal’s insolence has touched a raw nerve in a Congress jealously asserting its independence and power of the purse, and served to polarize the nation over the creation of a new autonomous Bangsamoro inside the territory of the Philippine state, and, as well, to alienate congressional support for the BBL.

This insolence has prompted Rodriguez to stand firm on the House decision suspending deliberations on the BBL. He insisted that the House would not vote on the BBL unless the MILF surrenders the fighters responsible for the slaughter. “It really is the deal breaker, if they will not cooperate to achieve justice in this country,” he said.

Senators were similarly adamant. Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, echoing the resistance in the House, said the Senate should not be rushed into passing the BBL. “We will make sure that we will not create the monster everyone is afraid of,” Trillanes said, pointing out that the MILF should not be allowed to have its own security force “outside” of the PNP and the military. He rejected claims that the peace process would bog down and hostilities would erupt if Congress did not pass the BBL with terms dictated by the MILF.

Sentiment was gaining ground in the Senate that if the MILF finds the BBL version coming out of Congress unacceptable, it can be revised and the two panels can go back to the drawing board, with the negotiations spilling over into the next administration. But the problem is that President Aquino wants the impasse resolved before his term ends. In his speech during the Edsa anniversary last week, the President was adamant on the passage of the BBL despite the fiasco in Mamasapano. He claimed that there may not be a similar opportunity to do so. But the President faces strong resistance in Congress to his policy of appeasement of the MILF.

Senators have also warned that the BBL is not going to leave Congress unchanged, especially with the Mamasapano slaughter raising concerns over the powers that the MILF would have. Peace negotiators are fearful that Congress might dilute the BBL as a result of the massacre. But Senate President Franklin Drilon allayed their fears, saying that “dilution” is “not the correct term.”

“We have to modify and look at each provision carefully,” Drilon told reporters. “[The BBL] will not be passed untouched.”

Some senators have called for the replacement of the government peace negotiators, whom they perceive to be siding with the MILF rather than speaking up for the government. One of those who have expressed this concern is Sen. Francis Escudero, who noted that the term “coordination” appeared 26 times in the articles of the draft BBL. He argued that the government’s lack of coordination with the MILF in launching its raids inside MILF-controlled areas ended in the “death penalty” for the SAF operation of Jan. 25.

The implication of this coordination clause seems to be that the government has to seek the permission of a nonsovereign substate to enter its “territory” to arrest terrorists and enforce the laws of the republic.