Maguindanao officials sign statement of support for Bangsamoro law

GEN. SANTOS CITY, Philippines - Local officials in Maguindanao signed here in an unprecedented move over the weekend a statement supporting the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), convinced it can put closure to the decades-old Mindanao Moro rebellion.

The officials signed the manifesto, printed on a white tarpaulin, during a dialogue on the draft BBL with government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferer and Senen Bacani, a senior member of the GPH panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The dialogue was preceded by a meeting of the multi-sectoral provincial peace and order council, chaired by Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, where members agreed to carry out activities that can complement the on-going government-MILF overture.

The draft BBL, once enacted and ratified via a plebiscite, will pave the way for the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with a new, more politically and administratively empowered Bangsamoro self-governing entity, based on the final government-MILF peace compact, the March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.

Mangudadatu led provincial board members and representatives of Maguindanao’s league of mayors in affixing their signatures to the manifesto, a gesture they believe will encourage political leaders in ARMM’s Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces to follow suit.

Only political leaders in Maguindanao, also a component province of ARMM and a known bastion of the MILF, have openly been campaigning for the speedy passage of the draft BBL.

The province, which has 36 towns, is host to more than 50 guerilla camps, including the MILF’s main enclave, Darapanan, in west of Sultan Kudarat town.

Ferrer and Bacani took turns explaining to local officials the contents of the draft BBL and its relevance to diplomatic efforts of putting an end to the nagging decades-old Moro problem hounding the country’s south.

Assemblyman Khadafy Mangudadatu representing the second district of Maguindanao to the ARMM’s 24-seat Regional Assembly also signed the manifesto.

Assemblyman Mangudadatu said he is sure the creation of a Bangsamoro entity will usher in improvements in Maguindanao’s business and security climate.

He said he is ready to voluntarily relinquish his post if the draft BBL is passed into law and, as a legislative consequence, cause the deactivation of the ARMM’s executive and legislative departments, both operating via a common charter, the Republic Act 9054.

The law-making body where Assemblyman Mangudadatu belong, comprised of three representatives from each of the region’s eight congressional districts, is touted as “Little Congress” of ARMM.