MILF hopes Congress will pass Bangsamoro Basic Law

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday expressed hope that Congress will approve this year the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

The BBL is a proposed measure that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a more empowered Bangsamoro political entity based on the MILF’s peace agreement with Malacañang.

Senior MILF official Ghadzali Jaafar, chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, said the BBL should be enacted into law before the term of members of the House of Representatives ends on June 30, 2019.

“We are expecting the approval of the BBL this year,” Jaafar said.

The draft bill was endorsed to Congress last year.

It took the government and the MILF almost two decades of negotiations to reach two compacts – the 2013 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, which the Jaafar-led commission used as basis in crafting the BBL.

The government is represented in the commission by representatives chosen by President Duterte.

The MILF is anticipating the possibility that some of the provisions of the proposed BBL can be subjected to extensive scrutiny by lawmakers, according to Jaafar.

Muhaquer Iqbal, chairman of the MILF’s peace implementing panel, said changes on certain provisions of the draft BBL must be attuned to all agreements they forged with the government.

Iqbal said they want a duly-enacted BBL that is consistent with the aspirations of the Moro people for lasting peace and self-governance.

“Giving bad medicine for an illness is worse than not giving any medicine at all. We want a good BBL that would really address the problems of Mindanao,” Iqbal said.

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