Zubiri: Confidence in Armm will help enactment of Bangsamoro bill

By Teng L. Datu
Cotabato City Bureau Chief

COTABATO City — “It is clear that public service in the Armm is on an entirely different level,” Sen. Miguel Zubiri said after an emotional speech by Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman during the Joint Public Hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Bill here.

According to Zubiri, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on the BBL, it was the third joint public hearing on the bill.

Holding back tears, Hataman expressed his sadness over accusations that the Armm of recent years has done nothing to help the Bangsamoro people.

“I think of the sacrifices that many of my colleagues had to make, some of them even leaving their families behind in the island provinces, just to serve the Armm and to show that Moros and Muslims can lead our people,” Hataman said.

Hataman stressed the importance of unity among leaders in the Armm at this time, especially when any indication of discord is taken advantage of by those who are discrediting not only the BBL but their capacity to lead their people.

A Sama youth from Simunul, Tawi-tawi expressed his support, but not without some concerns.

“If the intent is inclusion, why is the Sama people not represented in the BTC? My ‘why’ is the why of thousands of Sama speaking people, and I am standing here because I want to contribute to everlasting peace in the Bangsamoro,” he said.

“We are not here to beg; we are here to remind you that as the first Muslim inhabitants of the Bangsamoro, we support the passage of the BBL, and we hope there will be more opportunities for us to participate in the future,” he added.

Zubiri responded, saying that he has already been to Simunul and that it was a “life-changing experience.” He assured the young man as he noted that a public hearing will be held in Tawi-tawi on Feb. 8, and that the Sama “will be given all the time we could give, so you can provide us inputs on how to further improve the BBL.”

During the hearing, Zubiri laid out the initial timeline that the Senate has set for the passage of the BBL.

“Our timeline is to finish by the second week of Feburary all the consultative hearings. Our Valentines gift to the Bangsamoro will be a finished committee report, and then we will start the deliberations around the third week of Februrary,” Zubiri said. (with reports from bpi armm)