Headlines

Panel urged to pass BBL compliant with 2014 peace deal

Philstar.com

July 28, 2017 | 7:00am

Panel urged to pass BBL compliant with 2014 peace deal

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signs the Executive Order reconstituting the Bangsamoro Transition Commission in Malacañan on November 7. Also in the photo are Moro Islamic Liberation Front Peace Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal, Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza, MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, and Government of the Philippines Peace Implementing Panel Chair Irene Santiago. King Rodriguez/Presidential Photo

MANILA, Philippines — A panel monitoring the implementation of peace deals with Moro rebels on Friday stressed the need to pass a Bangsamoro law compliant with the peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

"The failure to pass the BBL in the previous administration deepened frustration among the people and more youths became attracted to violent extremism, leading to the rise of terrorist groups like the Maute group," the independent Third-Party Monitoring Team said in a release.

The first BBL failed to hurdle the 16th Congress over allegedly questionable provisions—some, like the supposed plan to create a separate Bangsamoro police force and to supplant the Commission on Human Rights, were simply misunderstood, peace panelists said then—absenteeism by lawmakers and negative public perception of Muslim Filipinos.

The government and the MILF have committed to a communication plan to bolster public support for the bill, which President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to shepherd through Congress.

He has yet to submit the bill to Congress, which convened last week.

Nonetheless, opposition to the bill has started.

READ: Zamboanga City rep questions provisions on territory in BBL draft

The bill, which will create a Bangsamoro region with a parliamentary government and more powers than the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is meant to implement the final peace agreement with the MILF that was signed in 2014.

"Another failure to pass this important legislation could mean worse for the peace process and the already volatile situation in Mindanao," TPMT, which has two government nominees, two MILF nominees and a chairman nominated by both panels, said.

International TPMT member Huseyin Oruc said in the same statement that "the period of transition from the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III to that of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has seen some continuity but also change in the roadmap for implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)."

TPMT member Rahib Kudto, a Filipino, noted the Duterte administration's efforts to make the process more inclusive—the membership of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission that prepared the draft BBL was expanded to include more stakeholders—and the "new two-track approach in the legislation of both the Bangsamoro Basic Law and federalism."

Kudto stressed the need to pass a CAB-complaint Bangsamoro Basic Law "that will reflect the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people."

Karen Tañada, another Filipino member of the TPMT, said that “with the positive developments as well as threats, the peace process could be on the verge of a breakthrough, on condition that the twin challenges of completing BBL legislation, and combating violent extremism, can be effectively addressed.”

TPMT remains confident that peace can be attained in conflict-affected parts of Mindanao.

“As the fighting subsides, it should be clear that a comprehensive approach that addresses the Bangsamoro aspirations by installing a Bangsamoro government exercising the fullest autonomy is the path to sustainable peace,” Tañada said.

Although the MILF has condemned the Maute Group's actions in Marawi, resentment over historical injustices that the BBL is meant to address has led to the rise of extremism in that part of Mindanao. — Jonathan de Santos