The military is adhering to the line of the government’s road to peace with rebel groups, but said that in case peace talks bogs down, it is ready to eliminate armed resistance.
Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc, Public Affairs Office chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said of military brass: “I believe they are fully committed to the peace process and that they wouldn’t allow the hawks in their ranks to push them back toward the days when their option was the use of violence. ”
On Wednesday, MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar laid down their options and possible scenarios if Congress shoots down the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Ghadzali said one option is for them to elevate their redress to the United Nations. Another is the possibility that their men go back to war against the government. Jaafar also feared their units may break away from the MILF and join the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
MILF chairman Al Haj Murad and chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they could not accept a “watered-down” BBL.
But lawmakers, legal luminaries and constitutionalists saw dangers in the BBL if passed in its present form: Some of its provisions are unconstitutional, and endanger national security.
In 2008, the MILF split into two after the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was junked by the Supreme Court because the magistrates said the agreement was unconstitutional. This prompted some commanders of the MILF to launch attacks not only against government forces but also civilian communities.
The BIFF faction emerged after the MILF leadership expelled one of its commanders, Ameril Umbra Kato, for not supporting the resumption of the peace talks with the government. The faction turned “spoiler of peace” by launching violent activities in some parts of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
“The AFP maintains a credible deterrence to any armed threats all over the country,” Cabunoc said, reiterating the preparedness of the Armed Forces in case war erupts again if the BBL is rejected.