Message of Mohagher Iqbal, Chair
of the Bangsamoro Transition Commision, During the Social Call to Members
of Congress on February 26, 2014
It is a
great honor and a personal privilege for the members of the Bangsamoro
Transition Commission (BTC) to make this social call to the Honorable members
of the House of Representatives.
As
Chair of the Commission, I would like to thank the House leadership led by the
Honorable Speaker Feliciano Belmonte for the kind invitation and the warm
welcome your Honors have extended to us.
I am
gratified that we are meeting today in a casual and less formal setting.
I sigh in relief that we are not in Congress because we are summoned by
any of its committees to appear under pain of contempt.
Instead,
we are being welcomed as your partners as we journey together towards achieving
the long sought peace and prosperity in Mindanao .
The BTC is
the product of the partnership between the Philippine government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front. It is the same olive branch of peace and
partnership that BTC is extending to Congress today.
Please
allow me to imagine our partnership from the lens of the BTC.
Our
partnership is founded on our common aspiration that sustainable peace and
development will reign in Mindanao and the
whole country. In legislating the soon-to-be-signed Comprehensive
Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), Congress will most likely be besieged by
many interest groups and individuals who will raise a myriad of issues ranging
from the constitutionality and legality of the agreement, to political
considerations and practicality and viability in implementing the agreement.
These may
be valid concerns. Yet, we should not to lose sight that there is one
supreme consideration that stands above the rest and that is addressing the
root causes of the long-drawn Moro rebellion.
What is the
use of a measure that passes all constitutional and legal tests but fails to
address the root causes of the Mindanao
conflict and worse, becomes a source of new and more virulent fissures? What is
the use of measures that may be politically expedient but will only further
entrench the very system that fuels the armed conflict? What is the use of
sleek, practical and viable measures when they cannot be implemented in an
environment of instability and insecurity?
The root
causes of the Moro rebellion were aptly articulated among others by someone who
is not a Moro but a Christian leader whose family are settlers not indigenous
to Mindanao . I am referring to the newly
installed cardinal of the Catholic Church, his Eminence Orlando B. Quevedo.
The good
Cardinal summarizes the roots causes of the Moro rebellion into three: First,
Injustice to the Moro identity. Second, injustice to the Moro political
sovereignty. Third, injustice to Moro integral development.
The
Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the annexes and the CAB
recognize the long history of injustice to the Moro people and have laid down
the principles, modalities and infrastructure for redressing their grievances.
I urge Congress to exercise its plenary legislative powers to translate
the peace agreement into a law that is faithful to the spirit and intent of the
peace pact.
As Chair of
the Commission, I respectfully submit that the FAB and its annexes assert that
justice for all is the basis for sustainable peace and prosperity in the
Bangsamoro. On the other hand, law, in the words of Martin Luther King,
“exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this
purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of
social progress”.
As the
attainment of social justice is the ultimate aim of law, Congress is urged to
pass a Basic Law that is no less than a “legislated peace agreement”---a Basic
Law that is faithful in letter and spirit to the CAB.
I apologize
for touching on a serious subject on this light and casual occasion. It
is precisely your generosity in welcoming us as friends and partners that I can
speak out from the heart.
Amidst
the different discourses on the role of the Congress in legislating the peace
agreement, I feel that I have to speak out and urge the Honorable members of
Congress to be the “enablers” that will make the agreement of the parties for
sustainable peace and development in Mindanao
come to fruition.
Let us be
partners, the BTC and Congress with the whole of the Philippine government in
addressing the historical grievances of the Moro people. Some quarters are
saying that the MILF is taking a big risk and a leap of faith in partnering
with the executive branch and now with Congress. Let me say that there is
no risk taken or leap of faith made greater than the cry of our suffering
people for justice and self-determination.
Let us
continue not only to open but to widen even more the lines of communications we
have started to put in place today. Your BTC will continue to engage
Congress and its committees so that we can build mutual understanding of the
peace agreement, the context by which it has been forged and the real intention
of the parties.
Thank you
and good day.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/document/item/837-iqbal-delivered-a-message-during-the-social-call-with-the-members-of-the-congress
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.