‘Submission of draft Bangsamoro law another breakthrough’

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Local officials consider the submission of the draft Basic Bangsamoro Law by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) as another major breakthrough in the Mindanao peace process.

The commission, chaired by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Muhaquer Iqbal, will personally hand the draft over to President Aquino at Malacañang on Monday.

The draft will be presented to Congress for enactment to enable the creation of a Bangsamoro political entity through a plebiscite in areas the MILF wants to group together as a Moro homeland.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, chairman of the provincial peace and order council, said he has asked his constituent-clerics in the local Islamic community to include in their prayers the safe journey of the group that will deliver the draft to Malacañang.

“We will dedicate our five obligatory prayers on Sunday to the safe journey to Malacañang of the BTC officials who will present the draft to President Aquino,” Mangudadatu said.

The league of mayors in the province said they are delighted with the completion of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, which if enacted and ratified through a referendum will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with a new Bangsamoro entity.

A senior member of the ARMM’s 24-seat regional assembly, Maguindanao Assemblyman Khadafeh Mangudadatu, expressed elation over the completion of the draft basic law.

“If it is enacted into law, my term of office gets shortened to pave the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro entity. I will gladly step down for the sake of a lasting peace in the Moro homeland,” Mangudadatu said.

The lawmaker said even his political principal, ARMM chief executive Mujiv Hataman, has expressed willingness to vacate his post as a result of the creation of a Bangsamoro entity.

“All of us elected regional officials are committed to help put up that entity,” Mangudadatu said.

Iqbal said on Friday that members of committees that helped draft the basic law made sure it would be acceptable to Moro, Christian and non-Muslim indigenous peoples in the proposed Bangsamoro core territory.