Even with five hearings and several government officials present, the Senate investigation on the Mamasapano clash fell short of making senators fully understand the complexity
of the ongoing peace negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), government peace panel chief Professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer said Ferrer said the panel was unable to explain the peace process in depth because it was not the topic of the investigation.
of the ongoing peace negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), government peace panel chief Professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer said Ferrer said the panel was unable to explain the peace process in depth because it was not the topic of the investigation.
“Hindi naging ganap ang limang araw na pagdinig para maipaliwanag namin nang husto ano ba talaga 'yung negosasyon na isinagawa natin, paano tayo nakarating dito, ano ang features and mechanisms [ng peace agreement] kasi hindi ‘yun ang topic,” she said in an interview aired over GMA News TV's Balitanghali on Monday.
“To that extent, pakiramdam ko hindi naging sapat 'yung proseso sa Senado para maintindihan ng ating mga senador ang buong complexity ng isang politically-negotiated solution,” Ferrer added.
Her statement comes a day after the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) expressed concern that emotion prevailed over objectivity in the Senate report, which in turn led to the creation of hasty conclusions, such as the supposed “excess of optimism” on the part of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the government peace panel.
“The Commission must likewise express dismay with the Senate Report attributing to the OPAPP and the peace panel ‘excess of optimism — optimism that blinded them to negotiate a fair agreement for the government,’ citing the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law) as an example,” CHR chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales said.
Engagement continues
The Senate report, a product of the investigation jointly conducted by the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs with the panels on peace, unification, and reconciliation, and finance, found that President Benigno Aquino III was "ultimately responsible" for the debacle.
Deliberations on the proposed BBL in Congress have been put on hold following public outcry over the botched Jan. 25 police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, which resulted in the death of over 60 individuals, including 44 police commandos.
Despite the setback, Ferrer said the panel will continue engaging with senators so that efforts to pass the BBL will not go to waste.
“Kami ay patuloy na makikipag-engage sa mga senators para mas lalo pa nilang maintindihan ang laman ng comprehensive [peace] agreement at mga provisions ng Bangsamoro Basic Law. Ang House ay nakapagsagawa na ng halos 40 na public hearings. Kung 'di naman nila itutuloy ‘yan, ibig sabihin uulitin lahat ang buong proseso sa panibagong Kongreso…. So maganda na magsama-sama tayo’t magkaisa na maglabas ng isang magandang batas bilang bahagi ng pagtataguyod sa prosesong pangkapayapaan,” she said.
SAF were outgunned
In a separate interview over “News to Go,” Rosales stood by her statement that the Senate investigation report on the Mamasapano clash was overly emotional.
She said it was “emotional” and “inaccurate” for senators to describe the clash as a “massacre” since both the Special Action Force troopers and the MILF were armed.
“'Pag sinabi mo kasing massacre, the party that does the massacre does it to the party that is totally helpless. ‘Yung sitwasyon doon [sa Mamasapano] hindi naman sila helpless. Pareho silang armado. Ang problema lang, they (SAF troopers) were outgunned,” she said.
Rosales said it would have been better if the report said the incident was a “misencounter”—as the Department of the Interior and Local Government had done—since it was not the intention of either the government or MILF to attack each other.
The CHR has requested the Philippine National Police for true copies of the SAF troopers’ autopsy reports and photographs of the clash site to assist in its own investigation of the incident.
“Gusto namin 'yung detalyadong evidence para makita namin kung totoo ‘yung allegation na close range ang pagkakapatay sa mga SAF troopers, because that’s a gross violation of human rights…. We want this kind of evidence [to be part of our investigation] before we can come up with our position [on the incident],” she said. —Xianne Arcangel/KG, GMA News
Post a Comment