(Manila Bulletin) – Should conflict make a return to Mindanao in the wake of the failed passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the government should take the necessary measures to keep children, regardless of their religion, safe. This was maintained by the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) which said that children will be “most vulnerable in situations of armed conflict” now that the BBL has been declared dead in Congress. During the Pandesal Forum at the Kamuning Bakeshop Cafe in Quezon City Tuesday, Romeo C. Dongeto, PLCPD executive director, expressed concern about the possibility that Muslim radicalism could be on the rise anew and children could be the first defenseless victims of any resurgence of violence in Mindanao.
