Bangsamoro Basic Law to abide by Constitution – Deles

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles yesterday said the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law would abide by the Constitution.

Deles allayed fears that peace in Mindanao will be derailed after the scheduled submission of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law to Congress has been delayed.

“Our political road map is in place and we are confident that we are installing a process that will ensure that the Bangsamoro Basic Law will live up to the people’s expectations as a measure worthy of broad-based support and one that is faithful to the Constitution,” she said.

Deles said both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are striving to meet the standards set by President Aquino during the historic signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

She said the draft submitted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) underwent a thorough review.

Deles said the Office of the President’s legal team, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the BTC as well as local governments in partnership with civil society groups and the private sector have been conducting consultations with stakeholders and some members of Congress.

She said the entire Filipino nation have waited 17 years for a mutually binding and acceptable peace process with the MILF.

“That has been achieved within three years of this administration. We can be bold in taking a few more days, if not weeks, to ensure a more refined and strengthened draft Bangsamoro Basic Law to be stewarded by the leadership of both Houses of Congress through the legislative process and thereafter for ratification through plebiscite,” Deles said.

Peace conference

Meanwhile, foreign and local peace advocates held a two-day international peace conference in Cotabato City and urged stakeholders to help mend religious and political divides among Muslim and Christian people to complement the CAB.

The speakers, among them priests and officials of foreign organizations helping in the Mindanao peace process, also appealed for religious tolerance and socio-economic cooperation among southern communities to hasten the implementation of the CAB.

The CAB aims to establish a Bangsamoro political entity by 2015, replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, main organizer of the peace conference themed “Religious and Cultural Dialogues for Peace and Reconciliation in Mindanao,” told the participants that the peace agreement could only take off with the help of local Muslim, Christian and lumad communities.

The conference held at the Notre Dame University culminated yesterday. The archbishop of Cotabato was assisted by the Community of Sant’ Egidio of Italy and the Mohammadiyah Indonesia, which are both involved in the government-MILF peace agreement.

MILF chief negotiator Muhaquer Iqbal, one of the guests at the conference, narrated to the participants the “ups and downs” of the peace talks with the government and how they have surmounted all challenges before finally striking a peace deal.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, North Cotabato First District Rep. Jesus Sacdalan and other local officials also attended the conference.  â€“Jose Rodel Clapano, John Unson