JV Ejercito also withdraws as co-author of Bangsamoro Basic Law

Another senator has withdrawn his support for the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

On Tuesday, opposition Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito announced his withdrawal as co-author of the proposed BBL following the killing of at least 43 members of the PNP-Special Action in an encounter with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao. 

“I am withdrawing my signature as a co-author of the Bangsamoro Basic Law as a result of this carnage. My heart bleeds for our policemen who were mercilessly killed,” Ejercito said in a text message to reporters.

 

He was the second senator to make such a move.

 

On Monday, Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano withdrew being a co-author of BBL as he condemned the incident, saying the supposed lack of coordination for an operation should not be a reason to engage in a firefight. 

 

Before them, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on local government, suspended the hearings and discussions related to the passage of the BBL pending clarification on the incident. 

Massacre, not misencounter

 

Ejercito condemned the killing of the PNP-SAF members especially in the hands of some members of MILF which has a peace agreement with the government. 

 

“Considering that such cowardly acts occurred amid finalizing efforts to attain lasting peace in Mindanao, it now led us to contemplate whether the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law would really address the long-standing problem besetting Mindanao,” he said.

 

Ejercito said he signed as a co-author with the desire of giving the BBL a chance to be the instrument of peace in Mindanao. 

 

“What happened to the PNP-SAF troopers is not a misencounter but a massacre,” he said.

 

The PNP-SAF members figured in an 11-hour firefight with members of MILF and the BIFF on Sunday. 

 

The PNP-SAF reportedly launched the operation in order to serve an arrest warrant against Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli bin Hir also known as Commander Marwan, whose presence had been confirmed in the area. — RSJ, GMA News