DAVAO City––The Bangsa-moro Transition Commission (BTC) chaired by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel head Mohagher Iqbal on Wednesday rejected the version of the proposed Bangsamoro law being pushed by the House ad hoc committee led by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s 2nd District.
The BTC that crafted the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL passed a resolution to support the passage of the BBL “in its original form,” or what was House Bill 4994 and Senate Bill 2408.
Copies of the two-page resolution, along with a three-page “partial list of substantial issues on House Bill No. 5811,” the substitute bill of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (AHCBBL), were attached to the letters sent separately to Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.
HB 5811 or the “Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region,” was passed by the 98-member AHCBBL on May 20, by a vote of 50 in favor, 17 against, and one abstention.
Resolution No. 005, Series of 2015 was signed by all 14 members of the BTC, the body tasked to draft the BBL. The BTC was initially composed of 15 members –– eight from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and seven from the Philippine government (GPH) – but in April 2014, after the draft BBL was submitted to the Office of the President, Commissioner Johaira Wahab of the GPH resigned to report to work at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Resolution said HB 5811 “bears substantial modifications and/or replacement of the details of the BBL.” It attached a three-page “Partial List of Substantial Issues on House Bill 5811” consisting of 28 “substantial amendments” made by the AHCBBL and the House Committees on Appropriations, and Ways and Means, which the BTC said “are contrary to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).”
The GPH and MILF signed these agreements on Oct. 15, 2012 and March 27, 2014, respectively, with both parties agreeing that the status quo in the relationship between the Bangsamoro and the GPH is unacceptable and that they would work on a new autonomous political entity, the Bangsamoro, that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) and put in place a ministerial form of government.
Critics have repeatedly pointed out that the Bangsamoro that HB 5811 envisions is “less than the Armm” that it seeks to replace.
The BTC “strongly expresses its support to the passage of the BBL in its original form (House Bill 4994), as the provisions of the same are consistent with the letter and spirit of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the peace talks;” that it “stands firm” that HB 4994 “is the most appropriate version based on the FAB and CAB and considering that it is the one that underwent the legitimate process of consultation with the people and engagement with the Office of the President.”
The BTC also “implores the better judgment of the leadership of both Houses of Congress to pass the BBL in its original form and to henceforth act according to the terms of the peace agreements.”
Iqbal said the resolution “in effect” rejected HB 5811. Iqbal did not reply why it took so long for the BTC to say its piece on HB 5811 which was sponsored on the floor by AHCBBL chair Rep. Rodriguez on June 1.
Iqbal said the resolution was “timed with the current Congress which will deliberate the BBL which President Aquino submitted as number 1 priority bill.”
MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim on Saturday told reporters in Camp Darapanan that he expects the President would, in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) two days later, “reiterate his commitment to support the passage of an undiluted BBL and we hope through this Sona, he could enlighten more those who are still opposing the BBL.” But the President only had one paragraph on the BBL and was silent on what kind of BBL it should be. The President merely said in Filipino: “To those who oppose this measure: I believe that it is incumbent upon you to suggest more meaningful measures. If you do not present an alternative, you are only making sure that progress will never take root in Mindanao.”
The President also asked: “How many more of our countrymen will have to perish before everyone realizes that the broken status quo of Muslim Mindanao must change?”
The House of Representatives is scheduled to resume the interpellation period for HB 5811 on August 4. Only eight of 38 representatives who had signed up last month to interpellate finished their interpellation before Congress adjourned sine die on June 10.
At the Senate, Senator Ferdinand Marcos, chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, told reporters on July 27 that he would submit his substitute bill “next week” or the following week.
Marcos in a privilege speech in early June said the BBL in its present form and substance, referring to SB 2408, would “lead us to perdition” and that he would submit a substitute bill before the President delivers his State of the Nation Address on July 27. (mindanews)
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