Gov't, rebel MILF to resolve issues in Bangsamoro law

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine government said today that it is set to meet with members of the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) panel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week to thresh out issues in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Philippine government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel- Ferrer said the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), members of the International Contact Group, and Malaysian Facilitator Tengku Ghafar will join the meeting.

"We will be meeting in a workshop to thresh out the various substantive matters that have arisen from the BTC submission and the subsequent review of the Office of the President (OP)," said Ferrer in a statement issued by the Office of the Presidential Peace Adviser on the Peace Process.

The meeting in Malaysia is staged after the BTC passed a resolution which called on the government and MILF panels to clarify and resolve issues concerning the revisions made by the OP in the proposed law.

While he refused to detail the changes made in the proposed BBL, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said about 60 percent of the draft measure were revised.

"The government can still meet their target of passing the law by next year. But there is also a possibility they can't meet the deadline," said Iqbal.

MILF vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar said the government officials recently returned the draft BBL with "so many comments and revisions."   Jaafar said the changes veer away from the four annexes which are "the heart and soul" of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro signed by the Philippine government and the MILF.

The BBL is the organic law for the envisioned Bangsamoro government that will replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by 2016.

The passage of the BBL is part of the CAB that the Philippine government and the MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, signed in March.