Bangsamoro draft bill now with P-Noy

MANILA, Philippines - The final version of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) was submitted to President Aquino the other night.

After a series of reviews of the draft in the past weeks by the government peace panel and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the draft of the proposed BBL was submitted to the President at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte confirmed yesterday the bill has been turned over to the President, who is expected to certify the proposal as urgent before Congress.

Valte said they are just waiting for a statement from Secretary Teresita Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, who said the timeline is still “on track” and that more details will be revealed today.

The cover letter of the document was addressed to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. with Mohagher Iqbal signing for the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC).

“We are respectfully submitting the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, and we are ready to adhere to our understanding to work on the final text of the proposed BBL after its review by the President,” the MILF quoted Iqbal as saying.

The draft was drawn up after a series of meetings in Kuala Lumpur and Manila, followed by a 10-day workshop last Aug. 1 to 10 at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao and then the series of meetings last Aug. 13 to 15 also in Davao City.

The BTC pointed out they are ready to adhere to whatever was agreed upon by both parties.

The submission had beaten the workflow timeline set by the government and the MILF during their meeting in Davao City last Aug. 15 that a revised draft of the BBL would be submitted to the President on Aug. 20.

Earlier this week, Deles said the draft Bangsamoro bill would be submitted to Congress by the end of August.

Ochoa, in the presence of Alfredo Benjamin Caguiao as Aquino’s chief legal counsel and Mike Musngi, assistant executive secretary, received the document.

The MILF, on its website www.luwaran.com, said that as per agreement of the parties, after the review of the President they will meet again to finally put in place the final text of the BBL, which the President would certify as urgent before Congress.

The two parties are also on the same level of understanding that an “agreed version” of the BBL is the only way that would strengthen their partnership in jointly pushing for early passage of the bill in Congress.

The President was reportedly expected to review the final draft of the BBL yesterday.

The final draft was reportedly in the form of a law as earlier recommended and proposed by the Office of the President and the BTC.

The crafting of the Bangsamoro bill was stalled for weeks after Aquino’s legal team supposedly made changes to the draft submitted by the BTC.

Iqbal earlier said the MILF peace negotiators will “lose face” if they accept the proposed law with the revisions made by the President’s lawyers.

Last week, Aquino’s advisers and the peace panels finally reached agreement on “crucial issues” in the draft law, paving the way for the bill’s submission to Malacañang.

Malacañang gave assurance last week that the legal team will give utmost priority in reviewing the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The same is true with the creation of a Bangsamoro Political Entity whose polls will be held along with the presidential and local elections in May 2016.

The draft BBL, once enacted into law by Congress, will be ratified through a plebiscite to allow the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a new MILF-led Bangsamoro political entity. – Edith Regalado, Aurea Calica, John Unson, Jose Rodel Clapano