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MinBC head: Don’t shoot down BBL because of Mamasapano clash


The Mamasapano clash last month that resulted in the death of 44 PNP-Special Action Force commandos should not be the reason for "shooting down" the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the head of the Mindanao Business Council (MinBC) said Wednesday.

"We should not use the Mamasapano incident as basis for shooting down the BBL," MinBC chairman Vicente Lao said in a media briefing in Quezon City.

Deliberations on the BBL were suspended by both the House of Representatives and Senate pending the results of the ongoing investigations on the Mamasapano clash.

"You have to separate the two...we are not against persecuting those responsible in the Mamasapano incident, but you should not tie that incident to BBL because these are two different issues," Lao said.

The Mamasapano clash on Jan. 25 resulted in the death of 44 elite police commandos after an hours-long firefight with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its breakaway group the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

On Monday, President Benigno Aquino III pushed for the passage of the BBL at his meeting with lawmakers.

He earlier asked Congress to honor the policemen killed in the clash by passing the BBL.

A comprehensive peace deal was signed in March last year that aims to end the decades-old conflict in Mindanao and to create a Bangsamoro political entity, which will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It will be legalized by the passage of the BBL.

Meanwhile, Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) chairman Dr. Saffrullah Dipatuan said delays on the implementation of BBL will affect the Bangsamoro Development Plan.

"Any delay that will be done on the BBL would delay the implementation of the Bangsamoro Development Plan," he said in the same media briefing in Quezon City.

"Of course, there will be massive frustration and demoralization in Bangsamoro communities; they would feel that they are betrayed," Dipatuan added.

The Bangsamoro Development Plan, which was crafted by the BDA through consultations, provides a short- and medium-term vision, strategy, and recommendations for the socio-economic recovery and development of the Bangsamoro during the transition years from 2015 to mid-2016 and after the installation of the new Bangsamoro government in mid-2016 to 2022. — BM, GMA News

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