Saturday, December 7, 2013

MILF: BTC holds special session

From the MILF Website (Dec 7): BTC holds special session

The Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) held a special session on Sunday, December 1, 2013. The session was special as it was held outside the agreed date on the first and third week of every month as provided in the Internal Rules of the commission.
  
This was to make use of the time of the chairman who left the next day for the 42nd Exploratory Talks in Kuala Lumpur.

Prior to the agenda proper, Chairman Mohagher Iqbal briefed the commission about the current status of the peace talks as he and the MILF negotiating team just came from Kuala Lumpur where they faced the GPH panel in an executive meeting facilitated by the country facilitator Malaysia.

Of the 8 remaining issues in the power-sharing annex, Chairman Iqbal said five were settled already except Bangsamoro waters, electoral system for the Bangsamoro and ancestral domain particularly of the Indigenous peoples. They are the hard nuts to crack as the two panels was not able to break the differnces in their respective positions.

The chairman said the issue of waters is the deal breaker because it is inseparable from the identity of the Bangsamoro people. The Tausug (literally people of the current), the Meranao (people of the lake) and the Maguindanaon (people of the flooded land) all trace their name and identity to water, thus the importance.

In the  Executive Director report, lawyer Elijah Sha Dumama-Alba on behalf of ED Esmael Pasigan, who was on official business in Manila, reported to the commission the provision of laptop and computer units with printers for every commissioner. Financially, the status of the commission is not yet stable as the budget from the national government still run the mill of bureaucratic red tape.

Project Director Mohajirin Ali reported on the signing of minutes of meeting between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission for the Comprehensive Capacity Development Project  for the Bangsamoro.

Signing for the BTC was Chairman Mohagher Iqbal while Naoyuki Ochiai, Leader of the Mission Team signed for JICA.

A comprehensive workplan was laid for the implementation arrangement of the project which was divided into four sub-projects namely: Human Resource Development, Improvement of Public Service Delivery, Institutional and Organizational Building and Development Plan for the Bangsamoro.

Meanwhile, a Third Country Study Visit is scheduled on December 15-22 that will see Commissioners Peter Eisma and Hussein Munoz with legal staff leaving for Aceh, Indonesia to study the Law on Governing Aceh (Loga), the role of Third Party Monitoring Team thereat, economic development, electoral system, and civil society organization’s participation in the peace process in the newly constituted special autonomous region on the northern end of Sumatra island in Indonesia.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/699-btc-holds-special-session

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