If the government wants to help develop Moro leaders, it could have sent them to existing academies instead of giving P5 million for a so-called Bangsamoro Management and Leadership Institute, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Sunday.
Citing his experience under the Ferdinand Marcos administration, Enrile said Marcos had given aid to rebels who surrendered in the form of jobs, but not cash to their organization.
“Mabuti pa ipadala ang heneral ng MILF at NPA sa (Philippine National) Police Academy at Philippine Military Academy, he said in an interview on dzBB.
(If the government wanted to help rebel groups train new leaders, it would have been better if they sent Moro Islamic Liberation Front and New People’s Army generals to the PNPA or the PMA.)
The Aquino administration has been criticized for giving P5 million to the MILF, supposedly intended for the Bangsamoro Leadership Institute.
Presidential peace process adviser Teresita Deles has defended the “aid," saying the money was a commitment of the previous administration that the Aquino administration found worth pursuing.
“Ang masasabi ko lang... hindi namin ginawa yan kailanman. Ginawa lang ni Marcos noong nag-surrender ang mga leader ng MNLF, binigyan ng trabaho," Enrile said.
He said the Marcos administration similarly gave jobs to New People’s Army members who surrendered. — LBG
