Marawi crisis won’t delay BBL — Dureza

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The attack in Marawi will neither affect nor delay the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as well the passage of the enhanced Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza said yesterday.

Dureza, who represented President Duterte at the commemoration of the 119th Independence Day here, told reporters the Bangsamoro Transition Committee (BTC) is expected to submit the draft of the enhanced BBL to the Office of the President or to Congress when it reconvenes next month.

The BTC finalized the enhanced BBL last week in Davao City.

“The timetable is still on,” Dureza said. He was accompanied by Mayor Isabelle Climaco-Salazar in the flag-raising and wreath-laying ceremonies at Plaza Rizal, fronting city hall.

The previous Congress failed to pass the BBL largely because of the Mamasapano incident.

Dureza said they are also drawing good lessons from what has been happening in Marawi City.

The government and the MILF even came up with the Peace Corridor to rescue civilians trapped in the fighting between government troops and the Islamic State (IS)-inspired Maute group.

Healing wounds of conflict

Dureza also urged the stakeholders to work on healing the wounds brought about by the armed conflict.

“I can build easily the structures destroyed by the conflict. I can also build the school buildings that were burned down. But building of the relationships, bringing back social cohesion and mending the torn social fabric brought about the conflict take time. The healing takes time,” Dureza said in his speech during the Independence Day rites, referring to the Marawi crisis and the continuing recovery of Zamboanga City after the September 2013 siege.

“I see here in Zamboanga, the healing process has already started. And we can see the results,” he said, citing the efforts of city government officials in cooperation with the military, police, members of different sectors and civilians.

Dureza noted indications that Zamboanga “is now moving forward.”

“The city is already building torn relationships,” he said.

The rehabilitation process, however, “is not only to rebuild damaged physical structures in Marawi, but the most important task, which is not easy to do, is building back broken relationships and healing the wounds.

Temporary voter IDs

Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will issue temporary identification cards (IDs) to registered voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, particularly in Marawi City. 

According to Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, the voter’s IDs of Marawi residents who were displaced from their homes due to the ongoing conflict could be distributed at the evacuation centers.

“The commission en banc passed a resolution giving free temporary IDs to registered voters of Marawi and all of ARMM,” she said.

Comelec data show that Marawi City alone has some 54,000 registered voters.

Guanzon noted that it would be very helpful if people who are displaced or evacuated because of armed conflict have government IDs. – With Sheila Crisostomo