Reflections on PAFI’s 7 points on the peace process

FIRST.  As a member of the Philippine Ambassadors’ Foundation Inc. (PAFI), I value the peace process and its ultimate objectives of achieving lasting peace and sustainable development in Mindanao.  These are ideals which the UNESCO culture of peace has sought to ingrain in the national psyche. Unfortunately, the massacre of the gallant SAF 44 has caused many of our countrymen to wonder whether the peace in Mindanao can be won only by going to war.  We should be grateful to the SAF 44 because their sacrifice will allow the nation to escape from the deeply flawed draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which the MILF wishes Congress to accept in its entirety.

Second. The peace process is now at a critical phase.  The Mamasapano tragedy has obliged both Houses of Congress to conduct investigations in aid of legislation. Congress has the paramount duty not only to pass an organic law without the constitutional infirmities but also to ensure that such a law can be implemented to promote the general welfare without endangering the safety of the Republic.