'Negotiation is the solution’— bishop

MANILA -- For
the head of the Church’s liaison body, carrying out peaceful dialogue remains
the best way to deal with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), fearing
that launching an all-out offensive against rebel groups only spawns more
problems than it solves.

In an interview, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo told Church-run Radyo
Veritas government officials must persuade BIFF members to sit down with them
at the negotiating table.

Negotiation
must seriously be considered. Offensives are no good … If the government is
able to negotiate with MILF [Moro Islamic Liberation Front], why not with
BIFF?” he said.

The government has standing policy of not negotiating with lawless and extremists in the country.The prelate,
who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s
Permanent Committee on Public Affairs (PCPA), explained unsuspecting civilians
are always the first to suffer in almost all armed confrontations.

BIFF members
are believed to be among those allegedly responsible for the deaths of 44
commandos of the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s elite Special Action Force
(SAF) in what has been dubbed the Mamasapano Massacre” in Jan. 25.

Meanwhile, in
an official statement dated Feb. 16, CBCP President and Lingayen-Dagupan
Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas pledges support for lasting peace, a
settlement of differences that will allow the people of Mindanao regardless of
religious affiliations to live in peace and as equals, citizens of one
Republic, nationals of one country.”

We hold it to
be morally obligatory for the government and for the restive segments of Philippine
society to search for the paths of peace,” says the prelate, adding that true
peace cannot rest on deceit, the suppression of truth, and subterfuge”, which
only underscore the paramount importance” of getting to the truth of the
Mamasapano tragedy.

According to
him, the goal cannot be the cessation of hostilities at any cost, but a
principled settlement of the dispute, and peace born out of truth, a commitment
to social justice and adherence to the fundamental law of the land.” (Raymond
A. Sebastián/CBCP News)