We must step back to go forward

The vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has warned the nation of war should the Congress fail to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL or “Babala”), which seeks to create a separate “political entity” for the MILF—a “separatist state or substate,” in the view of an increasing number of Filipinos. This was promptly followed by a similar statement attributed to a spokesman of the Malaysian ministry of defense. President B. S. Aquino 3rd has responded by calling on Congress “to pass the BBL today, or prepare to count the body bags tomorrow.” Then he created a so-called “national peace council” to hold a “summit” on the Babala to help ensure its passage.

Aquino’s latest sound bite is a bit alarmist, while the “summit” proposal looks constitutionally skewed. Not even Neville Chamberlain in 1938 said anything half as alarming when appeasing Hitler before Britain finally declared war on Germany after its takeover of Sudetenland. As for the proposed Babala “summit,” it seems like a clear attempt to load the dice in favor of the MILF after the Congress has assumed full jurisdiction over the bill. One mainstream newspaper’s banner headline reveals the propaganda slant: “Chiz urges P-Noy to alter draft bill.”