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COTABATO CITY (SDN) — “Gross violation”!
Member of Parliament (MP) Baileng Simpal Utto Mantawil made this assertion at the opening on Wednesday, June 21, of the second regular session of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament.
She delivered a privilege speech at the Parliament addressing the joint Philippine National Police (PNP)-Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) early morning raid on a Sunday, June 18, in Barangay Damawato, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur.
Mantawil insisted the operation was allegedly a “gross violation of the ceasefire agreement” signed by the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (GPH-MILF).
The raiding party killed seven “legitimate members” of the MILF, two of them the target of the operation as suspects in what the Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO BAR) said were criminal activities in the past.
Mantawil noted that MILF Peace Panel Chairman Mohagher M. Iqbal and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Senior Minister Abunawas “Von Al-Haq” (also the spokesman of the MILF) confirmed the seven persons slain were “legitimate members of the MILF”.
She feared that if not immediately addressed the PNP-AFP operation might destroy the primacy of the peace process.
Related: Bangsamoro Parliament Calls for Return of Int’l Monitors of GPH & MILF Peace Process
The PRO BAR through its regional commander Brigadier General Allan Nobleza the other day insisted that the operation was to serve search warrants on Nasser Yusseff Husain and his brother Norjihad Madidis Husain. But the serving party was met with a hail of gunfire.
Killed in the supposed exchange of gunfire were the brothers Husain and five others, Mamex Karem, Dela Singkala, Morsid Madidis, Jerry Pagugunang, and his brother Punpugay, all of Barangay Damawato.
Mantawil filed two resolutions in the Parliament. The first resolution extending the Legislative body’s condolences to the families of the slain and oneness with their call for a thorough, fair, and speedy investigation of the incident; the second one calling for an immediate investigation by the authorities.
The Parliament she said is one with the mourning of the victims’ families and their cry for justice.
It turned out as revealed by Maslamama that one of the Husain brothers was one of the applicants who passedthe MILF-MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) PNP Qualifying Examination and was about to join the recruitment process.
Mantawil is worried of the possibility that the public might loss their trust on the peace process in the Bangsamoro region, prompting her to call on the authorities to hasten and monitor investigation of the raid to avoid repeating the same incident.
She was also reported the other day as having called for the return of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) of the Government of the Philippines (GPH)-MILF peace process.
The IMT then led by third-party facilitator Malaysia played a key role in the success of the peace talks between the GPH and the MILF. — EDD K. USMAN (/)
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Sources:
MP Baileng Mantawil, Bandera News TV-Cotabato / Radyo Bandera Cotabato