Duterte commits support for Bangsamoro Basic Law

MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 9:30 pm) — The Bangsamoro Transition Commission on Monday afternoon turned over its draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to President Rodrigo Duterte, who promised to support it through the legislative process.

"I commit to support in front of everybody my covenant with you. I will support and husband this instrument," the president said of the proposal, which BTC chair Ghazali Jaafar described as more inclusive than the bill that failed to hurdle the 16th Congress.

Jaafar is also vice chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the government will be implemented through the passage of the BBL. The CAB is the final peace agreement between the rebel group and the government.

“It takes time but I will also try to hurry up so we’ll have something to show to the people at least before the year ends,” Duterte said. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said earlier Monday that passage and enactment of the bill within the year is among the "milestones" panels of both the MILF and the government are hoping for.

Duterte said the turnover of the proposed BBL “is a significant step forward in our quest to end centuries of hatred, mistrust and injustice that cost and affected the lives of millions of Filipinos.”

“The draft Bangsamoro Basic Law embodies our shared aspirations of a peaceful, orderly and harmonious nation. After decades of armed struggle and violence, we will soon come up with a constitutionally consistent legal instrument that will lay the foundation for establishing real and lasting peace in Mindanao,” the president said.

Jaafar said the proposed  law is "the best antidote to violent extremism." The MILF, and the government panel, had warned in 2015, when debates on the first BBL were going on, that government failure to deliver on the promises in the CAB could lead to an increase in extremism because of some sectors that might grow impatient with the peace process.

Calling the proposed bill a "new formula for elusive peace," Jaafar said the Marawi siege, which has been running since May 23, is a result of frustration with the peace process. The MILF is a separate entity from the Maute local terrorist group that claims allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.

The MILF has been helping with humanitarian efforts alongside government personnel and rescue and relief groups.

"We believe during your time we would see the dawning of a government in the Bangsamoro homeland," Jaafar also said.

READ: Panels commit to joint plan to bolster BBL support

Regional Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, which the proposed Bangsamoro region will replace, welcomed the submission of the draft BBL.

"After a series of renewed consultations and dialogue that has provided an opportunity to look at the proposed legislation with a fresh perspective, it is hoped that the new draft of the BBL will also renew the commitment not only of the peace panels, but also the commitment of our legislators in congress to pursuing peace in the region," he said in a released statement.

He added that he hopes the president will use the upcoming State of the Nation Address "to push for legislation that acknowledges and addresses the historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people, and to pursue restorative justice and lasting peace in the region."

He said that "delays in our collective struggle towards peace make it easy for fear to take root in the hearts of our people. Delays in our shared pursuit of justice make it easier for terror to thrive."

Duterte referred to the BBL in his first SONA and asked Congress to pass it. However, forming a new Bangsamoro Transition Commission that included members of the Moro National Liberation Front, and crafting the draft bill took up most of his first year in office. 

Earlier Monday, panels of the government and the MILF committed to a joint communications plan to bolster support for the passage of the bill and the ratificaton through plebiscite that will make the proposed Bangsamoro political entity a reality.

"The aim of the plan is to create the public will that will influence political will," Irene Santiago, chair of the government implementing panel on the CAB said at the signing ceremony.

Under the communications plan, July to December of this year will be for creating public opinion to push lawmakers to pass the BBL, with Duterte seen signing it into law.

January to May 2018 will be for "harnessing public opinion in support of BBL ratification." The milestone expected in that period is Bangsamoro voters approving the BBL through a plebiscite. June to July of that year will be for activities to gather public support for the Bangsamoro Transition Authority — the body that will lead the new political entity until elections there can be held.

Mamasapano

The submission of the draft BBL comes at the same time as the revival of public interest in the Mamasapano clash, a tragic firefight in 2015 that took the lives of around 60 Filipinos, including 44 Special Action Force commandos.

The Mamasapano encounter, which followed a covert police operation against international terrorists hiding in a remote village in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao, saw lawmakers initially supportive of Bangsamoro Basic Law withdraw their signatures from the proposal.

The Mamasapano clash contributed to negative public perception of the BBL and the MILF, with one senator who is now a member of the Duterte Cabinet labeling the rebel group as terrorists. Questions on what were perceived to be unconstitutional provisions — only the Supreme Court can rule on whether a law violates the constitution — in the proposed law and absenteeism among lawmakers despite scheduled floor debates on the issue also doomed the first BBL to failure.

On Friday, the Office of the Ombudsman approved the filing of graft and usurpation of public authority charges against former President Benigno Aquino III over the clash for allowing suspended Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima to participate in the planning of the operation.