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Either way, the amount is still a lot.
“Senator Bongbong Marcos — chairman of the Senate local government committee which tackles the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is questioning so-called provision granting PHP75 billion to the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the first year of the BBL’s supposed implementation,” reports Mario B. Casayuran in Tempo.
The report noted: “Marcos raised fears that the money could be used by the MILF to buy arms, recruit members and establish camps before eventually declaring war against the Manila-based central government.”
Marcos was quoted as saying, “Nakakatakot eh, baka magamit ang iba dyan para bumili ng armas. Mayroon mga report na lumabas na tuloy-tuloy ang recruitment ng MILF ng mga tao, tuloy tuloy nagtatayo ng kampo, tuloy tuloy na gumagawa ng armas.”
However, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has said that the “PHP75 billion issue” is not correct.
In an OPAPP press release, Atty. Mohammad Al-amin Julkipli — legal team member of the peace panel for the MILF — was quoted as saying, “For one, we have already repeatedly debunked the issue that the Bangsamoro will get an initial PHP75-billion funding in its first year.”
Julkipli clarified, “The total funding to be directly allocated to the Bangsamoro regional government for its initial year of operation will only amount to PHP35 billion, and this amount does not significantly depart from the current allocation for Autonomous Region in Muslim MindanaO (ARMM).”
The BBL has come under close scrutiny following the massacre of 44 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) commandos last Jan 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The Marcos-led committee will resume its public hearing on the BBL on Apr 13.
The encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead. The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the U.S. government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.
The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman. The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.
Both the government and the MILF have done probes on the Mamasapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal. It has since been revealed that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and even some armed civilians were also involved in the clash.
Photo: Cesar Tomambo, Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau (PRIB)
