MILF: Draft of Bangsamoro law 99% complete

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The draft Bangsamoro Basic Law is now “99 percent complete” and could be submitted next week to Malacañang, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said yesterday.

MILF chief negotiator Muhaquer Iqbal, also chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) composed of representatives from the MILF and the government, said members of different committees that helped draft the basic law made sure that it would be acceptable to Moros, Christians and indigenous people in the proposed Bangsamoro core territory.

The Bangsamoro Basic Law, now being wrapped up by the BTC, is the enabling measure needed to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a new Bangsamoro political entity through a plebiscite in selected communities in Southern Philippines.

The government and MILF aim to administer the plebiscite in the proposed Bangsamoro territory by early 2015.

“The March 31 deadline we earlier had for the completion of the Bangsamoro Basic Law was actually a self-imposed deadline set by us which we failed to beat because we saw to it that the law is carefully drafted,” Iqbal said in an interview with Catholic radio station dxMS on Wednesday.

Once accomplished, the Bangsamoro Basic Law will be submitted to Malacañang before enactment by Congress.

The Bangsamoro Basic Law is part of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, which both sides signed last March 27.

“And the President will certify the Bangsamoro Basic Law as an urgent bill,” Iqbal said.

Bobby Benito, executive director of the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center, said the BTC would submit the draft law to President Aquino on Monday.

“There will be a peace caravan that would send off the BTC people that would bring the draft bill to Malacañang,” Benito said.