International monitors push passage of BBL

MANILA, Philippines - Congress should show its leadership in promoting peace by passing the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the third party monitoring team (TPMT) said.

In a statement issued yesterday, the TMPT, which is tasked to monitor, review and assess the implementation of the agreements between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said peace is within the reach of Filipinos.

“We believe that the political will and vision of Congress can indeed allow it to seize this historic moment,” TMPT spokesman and chairman Alistair MacDonald said. 

“By adopting now a basic law giving legal expression to the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) and providing for the real autonomy foreseen under the 1987 Constitution, Congress will have shown its leadership in promoting peace, security and prosperity for the benefit of the nation as a whole,” he said.

MacDonald said their group has been monitoring the implementation of the agreements signed between the Philippine government and the MILF since July 2013 and met with the widest possible range of stakeholders.  

“Those who have lived with more than four decades of armed conflict in Muslim Mindanao have understood the tremendous benefits which peace can unlock, allowing the region to achieve its full potential and to contribute more effectively to the prosperity and security of the nation as a whole,” he said. 

He said the international community has watched with admiration how the Philippines worked to push the peace process.

“We are now at a critical juncture in the peace process, when a successful conclusion to 18 years of negotiations is almost within reach. Expectations are running high, though fears of failure are also growing,” he said.

MacDonald said deliberations in Congress and the wide-ranging consultations have allowed all stakeholders to express themselves on the substance and the detail of the agreements and the draft law.

The TPMT has five members — Rahib Kudto (United Youth for Peace and Development, Philippines), Huseyin Oruç (Turkey), Steven Rood (The Asia Foundation, USA), Karen Tañada (Gaston Z Ortigas Peace Institute, Philippines) and MacDonald. 

Pass BBL

The government and MILF peace panels reiterated their appeal to lawmakers to pass the BBL.

Chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, citing issues on lack of quorum and absenteeism in the previous Congress, called on lawmakers to work for the passage of the landmark legislation.

Ferrer said Congress would allow the next president and the incoming set of lawmakers to focus on other measures by passing the BBL before the end of President Aquino’s term.

“Let us act with wisdom and with full appreciation of the pressing and immediate need to correct this historical disunity,” she said.

She said the MILF is ready to undertake the continuous decommissioning of its weapons and combatants upon the passage of the BBL.

“Our mechanisms are ready to undertake this, especially the IDB (Independent Decommissioning Body) and the Joint Task Force on Decommissioned Combatants and Their Communities,” she said. – With Alexis Romero, Jess Diaz, Paolo Romero, Christina Mendez