VOLUME XIII NO. 3 February 1-15, 2015 WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA
The Newspaper
MEMBERS of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) carry their fallen comrades killed by bandits in an encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015. AP PHOTO
AQUINO TO MILF:
Name SAF killers,
show sincerity M ‘filled with love’ on page 6
angperyodiko
name saf, 3 @ang_peryodiko
House won’t suspend BBL passage
MANILA (Jan. 29) - The House of Representatives will stick to its timetable in passing the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) amid mounting calls to suspend deliberations on the proposal following last Sunday’s clashes in Maguindanao that left 44 policemen dead. “We might run out of time (to pass the BBL),” Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said on calls to suspend deliberations of the House ad hoc committee on the BBL. Belmonte described as “abominable” the killing of the Philippine National PoliceSpecial Action Force (PNPSAF) operatives in Mamasapano town last Sunday. Almost 400 SAF members had been sent to arrest Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Basit Usman. Zulkifli is a Malaysian bomb maker with a $5-million bounty from the US government.
He was the high value target, along with Basit Usman, of the operation. The arrest turned into a bloodbath as the policemen were leaving the area and encountered rebels from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MILF signed a peace treaty with the government in March last year but the BIFF, a breakaway faction, was not part of it. Part of the deal with the MILF was to draft a law that would create a new autonomous region in Mindanao. Belmonte said the final draft of the BBL being written by the panel, chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, “could still be influenced by the outcome of the formal investigation” on last Sunday’s clashes.
@ang_perydiko
MJ Lastimosa
In a nationally televised address, the President said that at the minimum, the MILF must identify those who were involved in the slaughter of 44 members of the police Special Action Force (SAF) who were trying to arrest two high-value terrorists last Sunday in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Calling the SAF men “heroes,” the President also said the guns and personal belongings of the dead must be returned. The MILF must also “step aside” as government forces continue to hunt down Malaysian Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Filipino Abdul Basit Usman, Aquino said, even as he noted that Marwan might have been killed by the SAF team. Between the two of them, Marwan and Usman had at least 10 outstanding arrest warrants dating back to 2002 for various
terrorist attacks and plots, the President said as he emphasized that the operation to get them was a continuing one that did not require a specific green light from him. He expressed confidence that the MILF “is studying how to demonstrate their sincerity in the peace process.” The President asked the nation to suspend judgment until all the facts have been established by both the Philippine National Police and a probe team formed by the MILF. “I expect that in the soonest possible time, there will be more concrete proof of cooperation on the part of the MILF to go after peace, go after the truth and making those guilty responsible,” Aquino said in his speech delivered in Filipino. Usman belongs to the Abu Sayyaf and is believed to have links with JI, a Southeast Asian terror cell linked to al-Qaeda. Answering a question after his speech, the President said that since the MILF has areas under its control in Maguindanao, its men would have to “step aside to make the operations” against Usman and anybody else who would try to shield
ANILA (Jan. 29) - The peace process must continue, but the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) must show its sincerity in wanting peace, President Aquino said last night.
house, 3