JOLO, SULU --- A day after they were jeered at in Zamboanga City, officials of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) were warmly received February 13 by no less than Sulu Provincial Governor Abdusakur “Totoh” A. Tan II and his father Vice-Governor Abdusakar M. Tan.
Groups of men and women in Jolo port held tarpaulins bearing words of welcome. Major intersections of downtown Jolo all the way to the provincial capitol in Patikul had billboards with greetings of the provincial governor.
Together with the town mayors, board members and the province’s two congressmen, the Tans joyfully shook hands with the delegation headed by BTC Chairman Mohagher Iqbal, a sharp contrast to the lukewarm and almost rude treatment they got from Zamboanga City local executives.
Native Sulu delicacies were served as breakfast for the commissioners and their staff who had to leave Zamboanga City on very early Thursday morning boat ride.
The Tausugs were not only genuinely hospitable but polished in manners when dealing with guests.
This, inspite of the fact that Sulu is the traditional stronghold of the Moro National Liberation Front whose founding Chairman Nur Misuari has openly criticized the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).
In a multi-sectoral organized by the provincial government, there were anti-FAB statements but none were delivered harshly.
ISSUES
Most of the questions raised concerned about the Bangsamoro identity, the fate of the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement of 1996 and the Bangsamoro Waters.
Iqbal explained to the large crowd at Sumadja Hall within the capitol complex that the MILF has just continued the assertion of Bangsamoro identity which was formally proclaimed by Moro ancestors in the Zamboanga Declaration of 1924. That historic document, according to Iqbal, “has demonstrated the political consciousness of our ancestors as one distinct nation, and ascribed upon themselves the proud name of Bangsamoro.”
As expected, MNLF sympathizers wanted clarifications on how the FAB would affect the agreement of 1996.
Iqbal said the FAB stands on the gains of the almost 18-year old agreement and that the 42 consensus points achieved by the Tripartite Review would probably be incorporated into the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The Annex on Power Sharing, Iqbal said, calls for the BTC to “undertake an inventory of the powers and consider the proposed recommendations from the review process” of the GPH and MNLF for possible incorporation into the basic law.
Congressman Tupay Loong of Sulu’s 1st District also stressed that he would personally see to it that the consensus points would be incorporated into the BBL so that there would be “one organic law for both the MNLF and MILF.”
In the midst of the speculations that the Sulu Sea would be “taken away” and be renamed as Bangsamoro sea, lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo of the MILF technical working group emphasized that far being dispossessed by any group the Sulu Sea would be returned to its rightful owners, the Tausugs.
He explained that the Addendum on Bangsamoro Waters secures for the Tausugs their preferential rights over the resources of their sea and their rightful share on the possible oil exploration in Mapun Island and elsewhere in the vast Sulu Sea.
Under the present ARMM organic act, neither the municipalities nor the provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi gain anything from the on-going oil explorations under what is termed as Service Contract 56.
Sulu Sea and the Moro Gulf, which are now territorially delineated as Bangsamoro Waters, would always remain to be called in their original names, Sinarimbo stressed.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/828-sulu-warmly-welcomes-btc-consultation
Together with the town mayors, board members and the province’s two congressmen, the Tans joyfully shook hands with the delegation headed by BTC Chairman Mohagher Iqbal, a sharp contrast to the lukewarm and almost rude treatment they got from Zamboanga City local executives.
Native Sulu delicacies were served as breakfast for the commissioners and their staff who had to leave Zamboanga City on very early Thursday morning boat ride.
The Tausugs were not only genuinely hospitable but polished in manners when dealing with guests.
This, inspite of the fact that Sulu is the traditional stronghold of the Moro National Liberation Front whose founding Chairman Nur Misuari has openly criticized the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).
In a multi-sectoral organized by the provincial government, there were anti-FAB statements but none were delivered harshly.
ISSUES
Most of the questions raised concerned about the Bangsamoro identity, the fate of the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement of 1996 and the Bangsamoro Waters.
Iqbal explained to the large crowd at Sumadja Hall within the capitol complex that the MILF has just continued the assertion of Bangsamoro identity which was formally proclaimed by Moro ancestors in the Zamboanga Declaration of 1924. That historic document, according to Iqbal, “has demonstrated the political consciousness of our ancestors as one distinct nation, and ascribed upon themselves the proud name of Bangsamoro.”
As expected, MNLF sympathizers wanted clarifications on how the FAB would affect the agreement of 1996.
Iqbal said the FAB stands on the gains of the almost 18-year old agreement and that the 42 consensus points achieved by the Tripartite Review would probably be incorporated into the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The Annex on Power Sharing, Iqbal said, calls for the BTC to “undertake an inventory of the powers and consider the proposed recommendations from the review process” of the GPH and MNLF for possible incorporation into the basic law.
Congressman Tupay Loong of Sulu’s 1st District also stressed that he would personally see to it that the consensus points would be incorporated into the BBL so that there would be “one organic law for both the MNLF and MILF.”
In the midst of the speculations that the Sulu Sea would be “taken away” and be renamed as Bangsamoro sea, lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo of the MILF technical working group emphasized that far being dispossessed by any group the Sulu Sea would be returned to its rightful owners, the Tausugs.
He explained that the Addendum on Bangsamoro Waters secures for the Tausugs their preferential rights over the resources of their sea and their rightful share on the possible oil exploration in Mapun Island and elsewhere in the vast Sulu Sea.
Under the present ARMM organic act, neither the municipalities nor the provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi gain anything from the on-going oil explorations under what is termed as Service Contract 56.
Sulu Sea and the Moro Gulf, which are now territorially delineated as Bangsamoro Waters, would always remain to be called in their original names, Sinarimbo stressed.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/828-sulu-warmly-welcomes-btc-consultation
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