From the Website of Mindanao News
Article links: http://www.mindanews.com/peace-process/2017/07/duterte-there-shall-be-a-bangsamoro-country1/
Duterte: “There shall be a Bangsamoro country”
DAVAO
CITY (MindaNews / 17 July) — “Within the context of the Republic of the
Philippines, there shall be a Bangsamoro country,” President Rodrigo
Duterte declared Tuesday after receiving a copy of the proposed
Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Duterte committed to “support and husband” the proposed BBL in
Congress to ensure the passage of the law that would create the
Bangsamoro, a new autonomous political entity that would replace the
27-year old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The creation of the Bangsamoro is in accordance with the
Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed by the government
(GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on March 27, 2014.
The agreement envisions a new entity that would realize the
aspirations of the Bangsamoro people for genuine self-determination
under a ministerial form of government and ensure autonomy far more than
what the present ARMM provides.
But nowhere in his speech did Duterte mention the CAB. He reiterated
“there will be no objections (to) the provisions of all that is
consistent with the Constitution and the aspiration of the Moro people.”
“I am for this. Within the context of the Republic of the Philippines, there shall be a Bangsamoro country,” Duterte said.
He noted that after decades of armed struggle and violence, “we will
soon come up with a constitutionally consistent legal instrument that
will lay the foundation for establishing real and lasting peace in
Mindanao.”
The proposed BBL, according to Duterte, “puts into life and spirit
the constitutional mandate provided in the 1987 Constitution for the
establishment of a truly autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao.”
The entire country, he said, will benefit from this new autonomous
political entity which he hopes will be marked by “good governance,
equitable sharing of wealth and generation of revenue, and normalized,
stable environment.”
Congress under the Aquino administration adjourned in 2016 without passing a Bangsamoro law.
The two houses of Congress filed substitute bills after their
respective committee hearings, both titled Basic Law for the Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region (BLBAR), which the MILF and even the government peace
panel then agreed did not comply with the CAB and instead envisioned a
Bangsamoro less autonomous than the ARMM it sought to replace.
Correcting historical injustice
Monday’s submission of the BBL is exactly a week before Duterte delivers
his second State of the Nation Address. The country’s first Mindanawon
President with Moro blood (his grandmother is a Maranao) is expected to
certify as urgent the proposed BBL in Congress whose two houses are
headed by fellow Mindanawons — Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel
III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Jr.
Pimentel and Alvarez witnessed the submission of the draft BBL in Malacanang.
Duterte said the draft BBL, jointly written by Muslims, Christians,
and Lumads “shall give rise to a genuine autonomous region as well as
bring forth healing and reconciliation to the historical injustices
committed against the Bangsamoro people.”
MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said Duterte has been “given the
unique privilege of correcting that historical injustice (against the
Bangsamoro) by entrenching the Bangsamoro Government – the embodiment of
the legitimate aspiration of our people, through the enactment of this
Bangsamoro Basic Law.”
“We trust you. We trust that you will shepherd the passage of this
law and see through the establishment of the Bangsamoro Government,” he
said.
Murad stressed that in passing the BBL, the Duterte administration
“would have taken the first step in correcting the historical injustice
committed against our people and laid the foundation for a more just
country.”
“By this joint action, we have co-founded a new Philippines-a new
country firmly set on the unshakable foundation of justice and truth,
and bequeath upon our succeeding generation a country united but
respecting and drawing strength from its diversity,” he added.
Violent extremism
Violent extremism, Murad warned, is rearing its ugly head and this is
evident in what is happening in Marawi, where clashes between
government forces and violent extremists such as the Maute Group,
entered Day 56 on the same day teh draft BBL was submitted.
“These misguided people have filled the vacuum created by our failure
to enact the Basic Law and fed into the frustration of our people,” he
explained.
Ghazali Jaafar, 1st Vice Chair of the MILF and concurrent chair of
the BTC, said their draft BBL is “the best antidote to violent extremism
that has wrought havoc” in the country.
He said their draft is “more inclusive being a product of a
commission whose composition also reflects the widest inclusivity” and
that it “reflects the diversity of interests of the Bangsamoro people,
non-Bangsamoro Indigenous Peoples and settle communities.”
“This BBL is our new formula for the very elusive peace in Mindanao,” Jaafar added.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) faction under Yusoph Jikiri
and Muslimin Sema, participated in the crafting of the draft BBL, with
three commissioners among the 21-member BTC.
The MNLF faction under Nur Misuair, however, has a separate peace
implementing panel which is drafting along with its government
counterpart, a draft amendatory law that would strengthen the ARMM.
The BBL on the other hand will lead to the abolition of the ARMM once the BBL is ratified in a plebiscite.
Convergence
The Bangsamoro peace roadmap that the Office of the Presidential Adviser
on the Peace Process (OPAPP) proposed in July 2016 and approved by the
President, was for a convergence of the peace agreements government
signed with the MNLF (1976 Tripoli Agreement and 1996 Final Peace
Agreement) and the MILF (2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and
2014 CAB).
The BTC membership was precisely increased from 15 to 21, purportedly
to get the MNLF factions to participate in crafting the BBL. Misuari’s
faction did not participate.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process,
said Congress will do the convergence of the BTC’s draft BBL and the
MNLF-Misuari faction’s draft amendatory law.
The MNLF-Misuari peace implementing panel has yet to formally meet although they
have conducted at least five informal meetings.
In a statement, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman reiterated the region’s
support to the ongoing peace process and its commitment to serve the
Bangsamoro people.
He expressed hope that the President, who will set the legislative
agenda of the national government during his SONA on July 24, “will use
this important platform to push for legislation that acknowledges and
addresses the historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro
people, and to pursue restorative justice and lasting peace in the
region.”
He said he hopes the new draft BBL “will also renew the commitment
not only of the peace panels, but also the commitment of our legislators
in congress to pursuing peace in the region.”
Hataman noted that the proposed law “comes at a time when we are
reminded of the costs of delaying our efforts towards peace in the
region, as we continue to hurdle old and familiar obstacles along with
new challenges.”
“Delays in our collective struggle towards peace make it easy for
fear to take root in the hearts of our people. Delays in our shared
pursuit of justice make it easier for terror to thrive,” he said. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
Mindanao News Website
Article links:
BANGSAMORO FRAMEFORK
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTIONS WEBSITES
PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
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