‘Saber-rattling on BBL wrong road to peace’

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas has dismissed the idea that peace in Mindanao can only be had through the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), as well as the threats that violence will resume if Congress does not pass it in full, dismissing such “solutions” as “simplistic.”

“All must work for peace in Mindanao—and throughout the country. This precept is not seriously disputed at all. What threatens the prospect of peace most, however, is equating it with the present BBL and threatening the return of violence and bloodshed should the Legislature fail to pass it intact!” Villegas said in a pastoral letter released on the anniversary of the Day of Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan.