‘Senate to pass BBL by March’

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will likely be passed in Congress way before the Charter change campaign to shift the country to a federal system can gain traction.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on the BBL, yesterday said he was aiming for the chamber’s approval of the measure that seeks to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao before Congress goes on break by the end of March.

He said “99.9 percent” of senators support the BBL.

“It’s important that the BBL is approved first because Charter change is a long process,” Zubiri told dzBB.

He warned that if lawmakers prioritize federalism, as pushed by the ruling PDP-Laban, the BBL’s passage will be sidelined and trigger extremist violence in the region.

Zubiri agreed with the assessment of security officials and leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) before the committee that failure to enact the BBL would likely result in the spread of the influence and violence of the Islamic State in the country.

He and other members of the committee – Senators Risa Hontiveros, Cynthia Villar, Sonny Angara, Paolo Benigno Aquino and Joseph Victor Ejercito – held hearings in Marawi City and Cotabato City last week.

The hearings in February are set in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Firdausi Abbas, MNLF leader and member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) that drafted the BBL, told the committee last week that the two groups will not wage war even if the landmark measure is not passed.

“We’re very thankful that the senators are doing everything to see to it that this law will be passed. And there’s nothing from us, no statement could you ever expect that if this law will not be passed, there will be war,” Abbas, a sultan of Lanao, said.

“Definitely, the MNLF will not go to war. We are already old. The MILF neither will go to war,” he said.

He, however, warned of extremist groups that might exploit the situation to recruit young people to spread their violent ideology in the region.

He cited the case of the Abu Sayyaf, which was formed out of “frustration” by some people with the MNLF, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters that sprang from disgruntled members of the MILF leadership negotiating with the government.

He said the BTC welcomes any improvements members of Congress may want to make with the draft BBL but appealed for more trust from them and Filipinos in general as lawmakers pointed to possible constitutional infirmities in the measure.

“There’s nothing to worry. We’re trying to build nationhood. But we can’t build it without trust. We can’t build without sincerity. For as long as you don’t trust us, nothing would come out of it,” Abbas said.

“A strong nation is not borne out by a mere fiat of law. It must be our attitude towards each other, respect for each other’s cultures and customs,” he said.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon also pushed for the BBL’s enactment, warning of “dire consequences” if the measure is not passed.

“One of the most pronounced threats is that of Muslim communities turning away from the peace process and providing dangerous opportunities for recruitment by violent extremist groups and propagation of more radical views, especially among the youth and the vulnerable sectors of society,” he said.

He said he believes the BBL is the more effective legislative response to the complex mix of grievances in Mindanao, including the diminution of ancestral homelands, poverty and underdevelopment.

Esperon said the BBL will also allow the peaceful transition of the MILF from an armed group to legitimate actors, participating in free and fair elections “where their rights and aspirations are pursued solely through democratic means.”

The BBL will establish a more representative and responsive autonomous government and better implementation of development programs to address poverty, he said.

‘BBL first’

The MILF is holding on to what President Duterte told them earlier that it would be the proposed BBL that should come first before Charter change.

“It was just yesterday that he said unahin ang (have first) federalism because that it is the way to avoid what are the unconstitutional among provisions in BBL,” MILF vice chair for polical affairs Ghazali Jaafar told The STAR in a phone interview yesterday.

Jaafar said the MILF was made to understand that they have to wait until the BBL would be passed as a law.

He was quick to point out that both BBL and federalism are not final yet.

“We are still in the process of everything, both BBL and federalism. Nothing is final yet,” he added.

Jaafar said the latest statement of the President regarding finally sorting out between BBL and federalism was a way of dealing with constitutionality.

For the President, only under a federal system can the constitutional questions on the BBL be resolved, he said.

“Let’s start to sort it out. Let us show the Moro that we are trying our best, that those constitutional provisions that will be violated can be corrected if there is a federal setup coming,” the President told a press briefing in Davao upon his arrival from India early Saturday.

The BBL, which is being pushed by the MILF, is being hampered by questions on its constitutionality.

Jaafar said the matter on federalism first before BBL would have to be discussed by the entire MILF as an organization. – With Edith Regalado