CAMP Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao–The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would formally resume the Bangsamoro peace process with a meeting of the 10-member GPH-MILF Implementing Team in Kuala Lumpur in early August, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza and MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said.
The joint implementing team, composed of five representatives from the GPH and five from the MILF, is expected to discuss their joint peace roadmap in accordance with the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and in convergence with the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) between government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and other sectors for what would be a broader, more inclusive Bangsamoro Peace roadmap.
Dureza’s visit to the MILF camp last week came three days after President Duterte approved the peace roadmap he presented in a meeting in Malacanang which provides that work on the new proposed Bangsamoro enabling law “will be done simultaneous with the moves to shift to a federal set-up, the latter expected to come later under the planned timeline.”
The 15-member MILF-led Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), composed of eight members nominated by the MILF and seven nominated by the government, would be reconstituted and tasked to draft a “more inclusive” enabling law that would be filed with Congress” in lieu of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that was not passed by the previous Congress.
The new draft envisions the “consolidation and/or convergence” of the various peace agreements already entered into – the CAB, the FPA, “including relevant provisions” of RA 9054 or the law governing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) and the Indigenous People’s Rights Acts (IPRA).”
Dureza said he would invite Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez Jr., to grace the formal resumption in Kuala Lumpur.
Dureza said the government will constitute its team “to counterpart the MILF team and we will schedule a formal big event for the so-called resumption (of the peace process).”
He said the formal resumption would be in Kuala Lumpur because “we would like to give credit to Malaysia.”
The two parties negotiated for 17 years, from 1997 until the signing of the CAB on March 27, 2014. The implementation phase started shortly thereafter but was bogged down by the non-passage of the BBL.
As agreed upon by the two parties, the BBL’s passage was supposed to have paved the way for the creation of a new autonomous political entity that would replace the Armm.
Dureza said the peace roadmap “really talks convergence of all groups already and… after they converge they will be the one to determine what is the road to take by the Bangsamoro, not for other people but the Bangsamoro itself. That’s the concept of self-determination. Sila na ang mag-decide.”
Dureza also explained the Bangsamoro and federalism tracks.
“I have already stated very clearly. Yung Bangsamoro federal set-up is uniquely Bangsamoro eh. It cannot be the same with the other federal states,” he said.
He explained that this is the reason why they hope the pending issues on constitutionality be resolved so that the parties can proceed accordingtly.
He cited the cases filed against the CAB and the 2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) also between government and the MILF.
He said he hopes the issues of constitutionality would be resolved by the Supreme Court. “If we can clear it (as) early as possible, the road is cleared already for us,’ Dureza said.
If there is no ruling yet and there are constitutional issues raised while working on the enabling law, Dureza proposed that these provisions be “parked” first “para i-install natin yang uniquely Bangsamoro concept where we amend the Constitution para it will be compliant.”
“Dapat nga sabi ko i-adjust natin ang federal concept na Bangsamoro-compliant so mauna talaga na i-approve muna ang (enabling law),” Dureza said.
He explained they are not using “BBL” anymore because what would be drafted would be a new Bangsamoro enabling law.
He said once this is passed, the governance unit–the Bangsamoro–“will serve as a test bed for the federal set up later on.”
The Bangsamoro “can be a pilot” for federalism “and we would like to see this really succeed” so other groups can say “pwede pala” (it can be done), Dureza said. (carolyn o. arguillas of mindanews)
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