The government and MILF panels are set to meet again before Monday, the President's scheduled State of the Nation Address, to iron out differences
What's the status of the draft law creating a new political entity in
On Thursday, July
24, President Benigno Aquino III met with members of the Bangsamoro Transition
Commission (BTC) in a bid to bridge the gap between Malacañang's proposed revisions
and the original version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which the
commission drafted.
In the meeting,
Aquino called on members of the BTC to approach the drafting of the proposed
law "with an open mind," urging both sides to put themselves "in
each other's shoes," a media release from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
said.
"I want to
be able to push this (Bangsamoro Basic Law) with conviction," Aquino said.
The Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) has earlier accused Malacañang of diluting the draft
that the BTC submitted for the President's review.
The drafting of
the law is the second phase of the historic peace agreement signed
4 months ago by the Philippine government and the MILF, aimed at ending more
than 4 decades of conflict in Muslim provinces in Mindanao .
At stake is the future of a region torn by conflict but with so much potential
for economic growth.
The heart of the
agreement is the creation of an autonomous region – but this hinges on a law
that Congress will pass and the results of a plebiscite that will come after.
In his 2013 State
of the Nation Address (SONA) last year, President Aquino expressed the hope that
the new law would be passed by the end of 2014.
But current
problems in the process have made this timetable appear difficult to achieve.
Iqbal
absent
In the Thursday
meeting were Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita
Deles, the government peace panel led by chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer
and select cabinet members.
A total of 12 out
of the 14 current members of the BTC attended the meeting. One of the
commissioners, Johaira Wahab, has already resigned from the post to assume her
position in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
However, the
commission's chairperson Mohagher Iqbal, who also serves as the chief
negotiator of the MILF, was not present at the meeting with Aquino.
Iqbal told
Rappler he had to attend an "important meeting" with the MILF central
committee at Camp Darapanan regarding crucial decision points that had to be
addressed regarding ongoing discussions on the BBL.
"It's not my
choice but it was coincidental that the MILF also has a meeting. It was
coincidental, a confluence of two situations. The consultation with the MILF
leadership was very important, so, I was there," Iqbal said.
While both sides
admit the chances are slim that a "mutually acceptable" draft law can
be submitted to Congress right after Aquino's 2014 SONA on Monday, July 28 –
the target deadline – neither side is turning away from the process.
The panels are
set to meet again before the SONA to try to arrive at a compromise, OPAPP said.
Diluted
draft?
The 15-member
BTC, created through Executive Order 120, was tasked to create the initial draft
of the proposed law that will serve as the basis for the Bangsamoro political
entity replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The MILF
nominated 8 of the BTC members, including the chairperson, while the government
nominated the rest.
After the
commission submitted its draft to the President, Iqbal accused Malacañang of
"heavily" diluting it and in the process producing a proposed law
that he said was worse than the law governing the ARMM.
Under the final
peace agreement, both sides agreed to submit the BTC draft of the BBL to
Malacañang for review before it is submitted to Congress and certified as
urgent by the President.
The difficulties
at the present stage of the process could be traced to an issue that has long
hounded both sides.
Since it started
negotiating for a political settlement with the government, the MILF has long
believed that the Constitution needs to be amended to ensure genuine autonomy
in Mindanao . The Aquino administration,
meanwhile, believes the final peace agreement can be implemented within the
"flexibilities" of the Constitution.
Flexibility
and the Constitution
In an interview
with Rappler on Friday, July 25, Iqbal said the government is too conservative
in interpreting the Philippine Constitution in relation to the draft law. This,
he said, was a departure from the statements made by the government panel
throughout the negotiations that the signed agreements can be implemented
within the "flexibilities" of the Constitution.
"I don't
know what's on their mind but we did not see the flexibility promised to
us," Iqbal said without elaborating.
The envisioned
Bangsamoro political entity is designed to have greater political powers and
wider fiscal autonomy than the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
It will have a
parliamentary form of government with at least 50 members elected by the
people. The elected members, will, in turn, elect a chief minister among
themselves. The exact composition of the form of government is expected to be
defined in the BBL.
The draft
Bangsamoro law will also detail how the block grants for the Bangsamoro will be
computed. This is a mechanism that would enable the proposed government to get
automatic appropriations without having the need to get the approval of
Congress every year – a potentially contentious provision since the Constitution
states that the power of the purse is exclusive to Congress.
Also potentially
contentious is the issue on the legal definition of the term Bangsamoro, which,
in the signed agreements, refers to both the place or territory, as well as the
identity of the people.
It also remains
to be seen how the BBL would detail the composition of the police force for the
Bangsamoro, as well as its relationship with the national police force.
Iqbal refrained
from qualifying the current state of negotiations as a deadlock. He said the
process is just "on hold."
"It's still
moving forward. It's just a simple halt in the journey," Iqbal said.
After the Kuala Lumpur "workshop" on July 7 to July 11 and
the Manila meeting from July 18 to July 21, Iqbal said they
managed to finish 30% of the issues but substantial issues still remained
unresolved.
"But I can't
estimate if this will not change because I observed that everything seems to be
very tentative. We already finished the issues but then it can still be
changed," Iqbal said. "But so far, out of our meetings from Kuala Lumpur to Manila
BEYOND USE. The decommissioning of MILF firearms and troops depend on the completion of corresponding political commitments. File photo by Rappler
Substantial issues
In a statement published on Luwaran, MILF's official website, on
Friday, the MILF made clear its position on the issue:
The
MILF said: "All
those issues that are settled in the FAB [Framework Agreement on the
Bangsamoro] and its Annexes will not be subject for renegotiation" and
"settled language in the FAB and its Annexes will not be subject for
renegotiation."
It added: "In
view of the wide disparity between the two positions of the two parties,
finding an agreed version takes some time," the MILF said.
Iqbal said the
BTC draft was "faithful to the letter and spirit" of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) signed in
October 2012 and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in March
2014.
Before the FAB
was signed, one of the last items that the panel had to resolve was on the
matter of the police force. The MILF wanted a unique police force system in the
Bangsamoro but the Constitution states that there should only be one police
body.
In the last few
hours of crucial talks over the deal on how revenues will be shared between the
Bangsamoro government and the national government, the panels were still
negotiating how the Bangsamoro could get a greater share in resources in
relation to the regalian doctrine in the Constitution, which states that all
public lands and natural resources belong to the State.
Asked
whether there might have been different interpretations of the content of the
final peace agreement, Iqbal said: "The devil is in the details. But I don't think the
interpretations are divergent. I can not imagine that but it appears that this
is what's happening."
"'Yung
kalabaw hindi naman manganganak ng kabayo yan e, di ba?" Iqbal said.
(A cow will not give birth to a horse, right?)
Iqbal maintains
that the BTC version of the BBL can be implemented within the flexibilities of
the Constitution.
"We (the
BTC) assured ourselves that there is nothing unconstitutional there. Otherwise,
we would have stricken it out. That's our view, that's our belief. That's why
when we finished it, we signed it. We believe there is nothing unconstitutional
there. It's just a matter of how do you flex, how do you stretch the
Constitution. The BTC is officially saying there is nothing unconstitutional
there.
4 layers
of engagement
During the
review, Iqbal said Malacañang was remiss in engaging the transition commission
in the process.
There was
supposed to have been 4 layers of engagement between the BTC and Malacañang,
according to Iqbal.
The first layer
would be through BTC committee chairs, the next one through other members, then
lawyers and special personalities, and finally, the highest would be between
the two principals - Aquino and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
Iqbal said only
the coordination between the principals happened. On June 24, Aquino sought a short meeting with Murad in Japan. At that
time, a well-placed source said Aquino had yet to read the contents of the
Basic Law.
When Iqbal
received a copy of the Malacañang revisions of the draft basic law on June 23
in Japan
One month before
the Malacañang revisions was finally turned over, Iqbal said Executive
Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr assured him that only 40% of the draft had been
touched and none of those covered substantial parts.
"So, I said,
if these are just peripheral issues, it would be easy. It turned out, the
substantial parts were also touched," Iqbal said.
The situation
could have been different had Malacañang engaged BTC sooner, according to Iqbal.
"Had the
engagement with the BTC occurred while they were trying to make the review, at
least lots of issues could have been resolved. But that did not happen,"
Iqbal said.
Iqbal refused to
comment on what role OPAPP and the government peace panel played in the review
process.
When Iqbal
returned to the Philippines Kuala Lumpur
In the
resolution, the BTC said:
"The BTC
strongly agrees to elevate the matter or process to the panels for
clarification, discussion and resolution of issues that may have been affected
by the revisions in the proposed BBL in the higher intterest of finding a
lasting peaceful solution to the conflict in Mindanao ."
"The BTC
stands firm in its position that the proposed BBL must be consistent with the
letter and spirit of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro."
Congress
For the
government, it is more ideal to resolve possible unconstitutional provisions at
this stage of the process before the proposed law is submitted to Congress.
After all,
Congress would be free to introduce further changes in the measure.
Asked for his
reaction, Iqbal said he would rather focus on the immediate challenge ahead.
"I do not
want to comment on the actions of Congress. That's another matter. What I'm
interested for is really the current engagement with the Office of the
President and with the government peace panel," Iqbal said.
He added: Kapag
tumatakbo ka at may hurdles, ang iniisip mo malagpasan yung unang hurdle.
'Yun ang focus, ang magtagumpay sa unang hurdle.
(If you are running
and there are hurdles, you are focused on surpassing the first hurdle. That's
your focus, to prevail on the first hurdle.)
REMEMBERING PEACE. Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman; Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak; Philippine president Benigno Aquino III and Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process hold the documents following the signing of a final peace agreement between the Philippine government and the muslim rebel group inside the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, the Philippines, March 27, 2014. Dennis Sabangan/ EPA
Limit potential challenges
Aquino
told the BTC during their Thursday meeting: “Let’s approach this [drafting of the proposed
BBL] with an open mind, see if everything is consistent with the CAB
[Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro], and limit the potential
challenges.”
Iqbal said the
challenge to be open applies both ways.
"More on the
government because they are the ones who really diluted the BBL crafted by the
Bangsamoro Transition Commission. We are really practicing due dilligence.
That's why even during fasting time, we met the government side in Kuala Lumpur and in Manila
In terms of the
timeline, Iqbal said the MILF still hopes to install the Bangsamoro political
entity by 2016 before Aquino steps down from office.
"Kailangang
matapos (It has to be finished). There is no second option. Gagawin
natin lahat ng pwedeng magawa (We will do what needs to be done). We want
this process to be successful," Iqbal said.
Under the final
peace agreement signed after close to two decades of negotiations, the MILF
agreed to decommission their troops and firearms in specific timeframes in
parallel with the completion of corresponding political commitments, including
the passage of the BBL, the creation of a transitional body, and finally, the
creation of the Bangsamoro government.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/64359-milf-bangsamoro-basic-law
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