CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – As the House of Representatives is in the thick of deliberating the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), a Lanao del Norte lawmaker asked Congress to step up security in his home province.
Lanao del Norte 1st District Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo urged the Lower House to request the armed forces to send additional troops and equipment to prevent any violence that could erupt should an armed group decide to attack the province.
Dimaporo first issued this call in his privilege speech in Congress on August 29, where he underscored the importance of preventing possible attacks similar to what happened in 2008 in the province when the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) laid siege on its towns.
BBL was drafted to establish the new Bangsamoro political entity and provide for its basic structure of government, in recognition of the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.
MILF forces attacked Lanao del Norte following the failure of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which the Moro separatist rebels and the government of then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed, but was met with massive opposition from other sectors in Mindanao, in 2008.
Despite assurance from Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ground commander, MILF fighters attacked the towns of Kauswagan and Kolambugan. MILF leader Abdullah Makapaar, alias “Commander Bravo,” used civilians as human shield, in their retreat.
“What we’ve learned from the MOA-AD attacks,” Dimaporo said, “is that two battalions are not enough. The MILF were able to succeed because when one battalion was assigned to protect Lanao del Norte, the area of the province was too wide, making the battalion spread too thin.”
Aside from his proposal to increase the military presence in his province, Dimaporo also filed resolutions in Congress directing the Department of Transportation, in coordination with the Philippine Air Force, to convert the Balo-i airport to an Air Force base to augment the security forces in the area.
Another resolution was filed to direct the Department of Justice to submit to the appropriate committee a copy of the case filed against Commander Bravo and his warrant of arrest in relation to the 2008 MILF attack in Lanao del Norte.
“The attack should never be forgotten, it should be taken into account especially during the deliberation of the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to push for the approval of the BBL when he received the new draft last July. (PNA/Jigger J. Jerusalem)
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