Gov’t, MILF to tackle anew Bangsamoro law in Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines - The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels will meet again in Malaysia this week to resolve issues on the proposed Bangsamoro basic law.

In a statement yesterday, government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the workshop in Kuala Lumpur will help the government and MILF panels to sort out grey zones in the proposed law.

“If we are going through this difficulty now, it is because we want the next stages to be less difficult not only between the government and the MILF, but among all the institutions and actors that will be or have been playing a role in the process,” she said.

Ferrer said that the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission  who drafted the proposed law, will also be present in the meeting.

“The implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is in the critical stage of processing a draft Bangsamoro basic law that the President can confidently submit to Congress and certify as urgent upon its adoption as an official bill in Congress, shortly after the reopening of Congress on July 28,” she said.

“We know that the review process conducted by the Office of the President (OP) on the proposed law submitted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) has raised some apprehension over some content where modifications were recommended by the OP review team.” 

Ferrer said they are taking the necessary steps to ensure better understanding of the concerns and to find a good resolution through frank and open discussion.

“The government panel readily accepted the task,” she said.

“Together with the MILF panel, Malaysian facilitator Tengku Ghafar and the members of the International Contact Group, we will be meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week in a workshop that would thresh out the various substantive matters that have arisen from the Bangsamoro Transition Commission submission and the subsequent Office of the President review.” 

Ferrer said neither the BTC draft nor the Office of the President-reviewed text is  complete and perfect to leave no more room for discussion, or no other option but to choose between one or the other.

“Then and now, problem-solving has defined our modalities and this approach has produced the workable results that brought us this far,” she said.

Ferrer said the bottom line for both the government and the MILF is set by the signed documents that make up the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

“There is no backtracking on either side,” she said.

“Any perception of backtracking can be duly addressed and rectified during the discussion. On the other hand, details or aspects beyond the signed documents are policy options that the BTC has taken and which the OP team took care to study and uphold as much as possible.” 

Ferrer noted various ramifications to any single text or gaps that might not have appeared at first instance like in any piece of legislation. 

“If we are going through this difficulty now, it is because we want the next stages to be less difficult not only between the government and the MILF, but among all the institutions and actors that will be or have been playing a role in the process,“ she said.

Ferrer said a well-processed bill going through the legislative mill  with the certification of the President as urgent  would stand  better chances of smooth sailing   in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“It is also not for the impatient and the impetuous who, in the face of difficulty, immediately throw in the towel,” she said.

“Rather, it is for those who persevere so that when the going gets rough, they get going. They do not turn back to their old comfort zones, or to the familiar sound of their war cries.” 

Ferrer said the government is not throwing in the towel it  needs for the laborious task that is 99 percent perspiration.

“Let our peace process continue to be the bright spot amid the violent conflicts that beset many countries in other parts of the globe today,” she said.

Indigenous peoples or lumads have been involved in the crafting of the Bansamoro basic law to erase perceptions that their interests are being dished out.

Ifugao lawmaker Teodoro Baguilat Jr. said the commission drafting the proposed law must make sure that the rights of lumads would not be trampled upon while the Bangsamoro Political Entity  is being created.

“The lumad leaders who took part sought for greater participation of the lumads in the peace process, saying that their rights over their own land have been trampled on for far too long,” he said.

“The lumads have emphatically and eloquently stated their case for a distinct identity and territory. It would be great to have Muslims and Christian settlers support their tri-peoples brethren in their struggle.“

The House of Representatives Agrarian Reform Committee chairman and committees on national cultural communities and peace vice chairman said lumads have a strong case as the  Indigenous Peoples Rights Act upholds their rights over ancestral domain.

“Without straying from my original intent to co-author the proposed Bangsamoro basic law, I as an advocate for indigenous peoples and human rights in general must be able to incorporate in the provisions of the law the aspirations of Muslims and Christian settlers without sacrificing those of lumads which they expressed during the consultations,” he said.

Baguilat was in Mindanao recently to take part in consultations for the proposed Bangsamoro basic law. – With Edith Regalado, Artemio Dumlao