MNLF, MILF issue joint statement seeking passage of ‘undiluted’ BBL

MANILA, Philippines – The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have called for the passage of “undiluted” Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

In a joint statement, the MNLF and MILF leadership declared that a diluted Bangsamoro Basic Law is “inimical to the full and faithful implementation of both the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA)” and “is unacceptable to us and the Bangsamoro people.”

MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim and former Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, chairman of the MNLF Council of 15, the largest MNLF faction, issued the joint statement after their meeting on Oct. 13 at Camp Darapanan in Maguindanao.

The BBL is the legal translation of the CAB signed by the government and the MILF in March 2014. The CAB is the product of almost 18 years of peace talks, building on the gains of the government’s 1996 FPA with the MNLF.

If enacted, the BBL will be the legal basis for the creation of an autonomous Bangsamoro entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

However, the MILF and the MNLF-Sema Wing said they both observed that the actions of some legislators on BBL signified “a systematic extermination of the signed peace agreements to the detriment of the Bangsamoro people and the entire people of the country.”

“The Bangsamoro and the Filipino people should take the side of justice and be united to strongly support the President of the Philippines and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) towards finding final, just and lasting solution to the Bangsamoro question,” they added.

The MILF and MNLF also stressed the need to vigorously push for the ongoing “tripartite review of the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement on linking and converging of the two peace agreements to BBL.”

The unity statement was the product of the meeting of the MILF and MNLF on the sidelines of the 42nd Conference of Foreign Ministers in May held in Kuwait through the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum (BCF) facilitated by the OIC.

The BCF, which was operationalized in October last year, provides a venue for discussion of issues and concerns of Bangsamoro people and finding common ground between the CAB and the FPA.

“Under this present situation of the peace process, we realize and feel duty-bound to strengthen and consolidate our unity and our people under the blessings of universal brotherhood for the common good and interest of all,” the MILF and MNLF said.

Foreign ambassadors also issued on Thursday a unity statement urging the Philippine government and the MILF to remain engaged in the peace process.

“We call on all concerned to remain engaged in the peace process to give life to the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, and to the long term political, economic and social pillars that will bring the peace dividend to the country as a whole,” the ambassadors said in their statement.

“We ask for a continued commitment from all stakeholders to seize this opportunity to enable the Bangsamoro people to form an effective and inclusive, devolved administration as called for in the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangasamoro. To do this will require flexibility on all sides to work within the current Constitution of the Republic and recognition of the aspirations of the people of Bangsamoro,” they added.

The ambassadors who signed the unity statement were Bill Tweddell (Australia), Neil Reeder (Canada), Jaroslav Olsa, Jr. (Czech Republic), Jan Top Christensen (Denmark), Thomas Ossowski (Germany), Marion Derchx (Netherlands), Erick Fomer (Norway), Rolando Gueverra Alvarado (Panama), Martinus Slabber (South Africa), Luis Calvo (Spain) and Asif Ahmad (United Kingdom).

Ambassadors Massimo Roscigno (Italy), Kazuhide Ishikawa (Japan), Jae Shim Kim (Republic of Korea) and Philip Goldberg (United States) and Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines Ambassador designate Franz Jessen also signed the document.

Also signatories to the statement were Deputy Head of Mission Laurent Legodec (France), Chargés d’affaires Stella de Araneta (Colombia), Ngerikl Baules (Palau), Mihai Sion (Romania) and Raoul Imbach (Switzerland).