From the Website of MILF
Philippine Senate passes bill on third and final reading extending Bangsamoro transition to 2025
Cotabato City- A caravan pushing the extension of the transition
period in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
MindaNews file photo by FERDINANDH CABRERA
Voting 15-3-1, the Senate approved Monday, on third and
final reading Senate Bill 2214 or “An Act Resetting the First Regular
Elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,
Amending, for the Purpose, Section 13, Article XVI of Republic Act
11054, Otherwise Known as the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao,” a Mindanews report said Monday.
According
to report, the 15 senators who voted “yes” are Sonny Angara, Maria
Lourdes Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Win
Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan,
Grace Poe, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Cynthia Villar, Francis “Tol”
Tolentino, Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon, Majority Floor Leader
Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, and Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Senators Ralph Recto, Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson voted against the bill. Senator Imee Marcos abstained.
Upon
learning of the good news, senior officials of the Bangsamoro
government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as well as
civil society leaders in Mindanao, hailed the Senate’s decision on
Monday to postpone the parliamentary elections from 2022 to 2025, the
Mindanews report said.
Should the House of
Representatives pass the same and President Rodrigo Duterte sign the
bill into law, it will effectively extend the transition period in the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for three more
years, the report also said.
Bangsamoro Interim
Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim hailed the Senate for passing the
legislation as the Bangsamoro people “stand to benefit from the
extension of the transition period.”
“The
extension for three more years gives us a better chance for healing, for
rebuilding and for setting the future of the Bangsamoro,” said Ebrahim,
also the chair of the MILF.
“Like the gains of the peace process, this is not only a victory for the Bangsamoro but for the whole Philippines,” he added.
Interior
and Local Governments Minister Naguib Sinarimbo, also the spokesperson
of the Bangsamoro government, described the Senate’s action as a
“historic move.”
He particularly thanked Senators Tolentino and Zubiri for working out the passage of the bill.
“This
bill will ensure that we set the course for the newly established
Bangsamoro autonomous region towards an irreversible course of peace and
development,” Sinarimbo said.
Tolentino said
that resetting the 2022 Bangsamoro elections will help ease in putting
the promises of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in
place for the Bangsamoro people.
The CAB is the
final peace deal between the government and the MILF signed in 2014
after 17 years of negotiations. Its key feature is the creation of the
Bangsamoro region, which was realized in 2019 following the ratification
of Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM.
The
MPC as well as the Civil Society Movement for Moral Governance has
spearheaded various rallies in Metro Manila, and peace caravans calling
for the congressional passage of the bill extending the Bangsamoro
Transiton to 2025.
They also called on and urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify the bills as urgent.
Lawyer
Mary Ann Arnado, Secretary General of the peace advocacy group MPC,
also lauded the Senate for passing the bill postponing the 2022
Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.
She urged the House of Representatives to follow the lead of the Senate. (Source: Mindanews, Sept 7, 2021)
MILF Website
Article links:
BANGSAMORO FRAMEFORK
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/787-gph-to-grant-amnesty-to-milf-rebels
http://www.opapp.gov.ph/sites/default/files/House%20Bill%20No.%204994.pdf
http://www.opapp.gov.ph/resources/house-bill-no-4994
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