‘Peace summit involves all Pinoys’

MANILA, Philippines - Every Filipino needs to understand and get involved in the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Malacañang said yesterday, after President Aquino announced the holding of a national peace summit with representatives from different sectors as independent convenors.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the details of the summit would be up to the convenors who would gather other responsible and respected leaders to spearhead the event – how it would be executed and the number of days it would be held.

On Friday, Aquino stood firm in his belief that the peace process must be pursued and that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) must be passed or the nation would have “to count body bags later on” because of war in Mindanao.

Aquino invited “citizen leaders known for their wisdom and integrity” as independent convenors that included Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, former Supreme Court chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., businessman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, former ambassador and peace advocate Howard Dee and Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman, founder of Teach Peace Build Peace Movement, a non-profit organization with a mission of making every youth a peace builder.

Aquino said the independent convenors would dissect the proposed law in a calm and reasonable manner that would not incite anger and hopelessness.

“This way, the BBL can be improved. They will write a report that will be made public, so that everyone may be informed, and so that more of our countrymen may understand the matter. In this manner, we will be able to advance a reasonable decision as regards the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” the President said.

Valte said the inputs from the summit would not be useless even as Congress deliberated on the proposed BBL because it would collect different positions or opinions from all sectors of society.

“This is an issue that everyone needs to understand. It is an issue that everyone needs to be able to dissect in a rational manner, so why oppose a space that could help the public understand and improve the draft BBL?” Valte argued.

Valte said the convenors would not in any way usurp the work of the lawmakers and there was nothing wrong in involving the people in the peace process.

“It’s Congress that has the power to go over the law and then to make refinements to it, but that does not exclude the people because Congress should primarily be listening to the people, and we do not see why the people should be excluded out of discussions that concern matters that affect them as well,” Valte said.

“Think of this as an additional discussion. This will not replace the discussions in Congress. It will not replace the system that the BBL has to go through to make it a law. This is just an additional space wherein stakeholders, community leaders and other citizens can take part in rational discussions about the BBL,” she said.

Valte said the senators would act and comport themselves as they see fit, but it would also contribute to the public discourse if there would be an avenue to discuss and debate the issue of BBL “without disinformation, without misinformation.”

She noted it would be up to the senators to listen to the voices of the convenors after the summit.

“It was created not to supplant Congress, not to replace Congress, or not to denigrate...the legislative process that the BBL has to undergo, but rather, it creates an opportunity for community leaders and well-respected personalities in our society to come together to sit down and to discuss the BBL, and it’s also to – in their understanding – to see, to propose ways to move forward,” Valte explained.

Lawmakers suspended the deliberations on the proposed BBL following the public outcry over the involvement of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the killing of 44 policemen in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25.

The BBL was drafted under the peace agreement with the MILF to allow a Bangsamoro entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The President is urging Congress to pass the BBL ahead of the national elections in May 2016.

Lawmakers, however, are of the opinion that passing the BBL in June would be difficult in light of the public outcry over the involvement of the MILF in the killing of the 44 policemen in Mamasapano.

“It’s becoming more difficult because of the time constraint and the fact that a large segment of the population is against this proposed law,” said Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.

Gonzales said both the Senate and the House are running out of time to approve the draft BBL by June 11, when the second regular session of Congress ends.

The two chambers still have to receive the reports of their committees on the draft law that seeks to create a new autonomous Bangsamoro region in Mindanao, he added.

This is the reason why the committees are working hard during the Lenten break of Congress to conduct more hearings and come up with their reports on their versions of the BBL, he stressed.

Gonzales noted that the House ad hoc committee on the BBL, chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, has scheduled closed-door sessions from April 20 to 30, while the Senate local government committee has set an additional hearing for April 13.

“We in the House hope we can finish tackling the report of the ad hoc committee and vote on it between the time we reconvene on May 4 and the time we end our second regular session on June 11,” the House official said.

However, the Rodriguez committee will not be able to present its report during the first week of sessions in May, since it is set to vote on it on May 11-12.

Gonzales said opposition by a large segment of the population to the proposed BBL would be another hurdle lawmakers would have to overcome.

He said many senators and congressmen would listen to their constituents in voting for or against the proposed law.

He said a recent survey showed that 44 percent of respondents nationwide and more than 70 percent in Mindanao were against the BBL largely because of the Mamasapano incident.

“That perception has to be reversed,” he stressed.

He added that he is still optimistic that once constitutionally questionable provisions in the BBL are taken out and charges are filed against those involved in the Mamasapano carnage, people would return to accepting the BBL.

Rodriguez has vowed to make the proposed Bangsamoro law comply with the Constitution.

He expressed confidence that opposition to the draft law, particularly in Mindanao, would eventually soften. – Jess Diaz, Jaime Laude, John Unson