Misuari forms 5-member panel to review ARMM law

MANILA, Philippines - The government will handle the concerns of the group of Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari separately from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the MNLF faction led by Muslimin Sema, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said yesterday.

Dureza said Misuari’s group would constitute a five-person panel that will work on the completion of the remaining commitments under the 1996 peace agreement.

“The Misuari panel’s draft maybe toward enhancing Republic Act 9054 or the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) law. They still have reservations regarding the implementation of the law,” Dureza said.

He said these reservations were tackled during a review process which resulted in 42 consensus points, including the creation of a Bangsamoro development assistance fund, establishment of a monitoring committee to oversee the delivery of the agreements during the review and an interim agreement in strategic minerals.

Dureza said the Misuari panel and the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) would submit separate proposals to Congress.

President Duterte earlier signed an executive order expanding the membership of the BTC from 15 to 21 to include representatives from the MNLF. The BTC will draft the enabling law creating the Bangsamoro government.

Ten BTC members will be appointed by the President, including three from the MNLF faction led by Sema.

“The convergence will take place in Congress...that will craft one Bangsamoro law for all of us. We will trust Congress to reconcile differences if any,” Dureza said.