EDITORIAL - Make autonomy work

There are debates on whether or not to declare the demise of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. As originally agreed upon by the peace panels of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the BBL does look dead in the two chambers of Congress, where members are busy drafting their own respective versions of the measure.

The peace initiative in the Muslim areas of Mindanao, however, is certain to continue. And the area itself where peace is needed can do with continuing support from the government and other concerned sectors. There is an existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, created by law and supported by a peace pact forged in 1996 with the original separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front, from which the MILF broke away. The ARMM has a government in place, with its budget part of the annual General Appropriations Act.

Last Monday, the House of Representatives approved the proposed P29.4-billion ARMM budget for 2016. That’s a lot of public funds for a region that the Aquino administration, in pushing for a new peace pact and the creation of a new Bangsamoro entity, has dismissed as a “failed experiment.” If the ARMM is a failed experiment, the current administration, in office for over five years, will have to share part of the blame.

With the fate of the BBL in limbo, the government must continue providing basic services to the people of the ARMM while at the same time intensifying development efforts in the region. There should be a stronger push to create meaningful jobs and livelihood opportunities in the ARMM, particularly in agriculture.

The ARMM is blessed with rich natural resources and has potentials for tourism. The government must not pin all its hopes on the peace process with the MILF to promote development and push investments in an autonomous region whose existence is recognized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Even while the government continues to pursue peace with the MILF and other armed elements in the Muslim regions, there must be more effort to bring development to the ARMM. Muslim autonomy is in place and it should be made to work.