Congressman Rufus Rodriguez wants to hear out the MNLF and BIFF leaders on the Bangsamoro bill. He says the suspension of arrest warrants would have no effect on their pending cases.
Committees in both chambers of Congress tasked to deliberate the proposed law creating a new autonomous region in
Cagayan de Oro
Representative Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the special committee in the House
of Representatives that will discuss the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law,
said he has spoken to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima about his proposal.
"Secretary
De Lima said she has an open mind. The decision will be up to the discretion of
the court and she told us that the proposal should be made in writing,"
Rodriguez told Rappler.
Rodriguez and his
counterpart in the Senate, Senate Ferdinand "Bongbong"
Marcos Jr, want Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding
chairman Nur Misuari and
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) founder Umra Kato to attend
public hearings on the proposed law.
The bill is a
product of the final peace agreement between the government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Both the Misuari
and Kato have rejected the peace agreement and continued to push for an
independent region.
The MNLF signed a
peace accord with the government in 1996, but maintains that the agreement has
yet to be fully implemented. The MILF broke away from the MNLF in the 1970s at
the height of the conflict between government forces and Muslim rebels due to
differences between Misuari and other leaders.
The BIFF,
meanwhile, is a splinter group of the MILF. It which broke off from the group
after the Supreme Court declared the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral
Domains (MOA-AD) between the MILF and the Arroyo administration as
unconstitutional.
Rodriguez said he
will also ask Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin to approve a 5-day safe conduct
pass for both Misuari and Kato to give them their opportunity to air their
concerns on the Bangsamoro bill, which stakeholders hope would finally put an
end to 4 decades of war in Mindanao .
Rodriguez sought
to clarify that suspending their warrants of arrest would have no effect on
pending cases against the two.
"We only
want the warrant to not be implemented while the safe conduct pass is in effect
so they or their representatives can participate in the discussion. During this
time, they will be under the custody of the House of Representatives,"
Rodriguez said.
Misuari is facing
charges for the 2013 siege of Zamboanga
that killed over 100 people. Umra Kato, who has long been rumored to be ailing,
is facing charges over the 2008 hostilities resulting from the SC decision on
the MOA-AD.
The Bangsamoro
Basic Law seeks to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with
a new government that has greater political and fiscal autonomy.
Although it is a
product of the peace agreement between the government and the MILF, the
autonomous government that will be established will not be limited to the MILF.
Deliberations in
Congress on the Bangsamoro Basic Law could serve as a venue for the concerns of
the MILF, the MNLF and the BIFF to reach a common ground.
Hearings
in Mindanao , too
The first public
hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Law will be held on Wednesday, September 24.
The Senate is also expected to conduct its own briefing on the same week,
Marcos earlier said.
Members of the
House special committee will meet on Tuesday, September 16, to approve their
internal rules and timeline.
Aside from
holding marathon hearings in Manila , the
75-member ad hoc House committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law will hold
simultaneous public hearings in Mindanao, including the Zamboanga
Peninsula , Northern Mindanao,
provinces under the ARMM, as well as Davao
City
To fast-track
deliberations, all 8 vice chairpersons of the 75-member ad hoc committee will
divide the responsibility among themselves. Rodriguez said hearings will also
be held during scheduled sessions breaks in September to October and in
November.
Rodriguez said he
hopes to put the bill to a vote at the committee level by November 30.
At the top of the
committee's considerations is the constitutionality of the proposed law – an
issue that had also hounded peace panels from the start up to the final stages
of discussions.
During the
negotiations, the MILF was of the position that real autonomy in Mindanao can't be entrenched without amending the
Constitution. The government, meanwhile, negotiated for a final peace accord
under the direction that it must be implemented without the need for charter
change.
The same issue
delayed the submission of the Bangsamoro bill in Congress after the MILF accused Malacañang of
diluting the first version of the basic law when it was submitted to
President Benigno Aquino III for review.
Malacañang and
the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, led by MILF chief negotiator Mohagher
Iqbal, said they believe the proposed law, as well as the Comprehensive
Agreement on the Bangsamoro which it is based from, is "within the flexibilities
of the Constitution."
Guests to be
invited in the Wednesday hearing include presidential spokesperson Edwin
Lacierda, who played a key role during crucial moments in the talks,
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Deles, the Bangsamoro
Transition Commission and the government peace panel.
Rodriguez said he
and Marcos had considered holding joint hearings to fast-track discussions but
the "sheer number" of House members who will be involved in the
deliberations made them decide to hold separate hearings instead.
At the Senate,
Senate President Franklin Drilon said there is "strong bipartisan
support" for the bill.
A total of 13
senators, including 4 members of the minority and 9 members of the majority,
signed as co-authors of the bill, which was formally filed at the Senate
Monday, September 15. The House version was filed on Thursday, September 11.
Congress is under
pressure to pass the basic law by 2015 to give the MILF-led transitional body
at least one year to lead the transition toward the Bangsamoro.
Both the MILF and
the govenrment want the Bangsamoro to be installed by 2016 before Aquino steps
down from office.
Drilon and
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr earlier said Congress can pass the bill by the
first quarter of 2016.
Under the
Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the MILF agreed to decommission
rebel firearms in exchange for political commitments towards the creation of a
new autonomous government, including the passage of the law.
Once the
Bangsamoro Basic Law is approved in Congress and through a plebiscite, the ARMM
will be deemed abolished.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/special-coverage/peacetalks/69173-safe-conduct-pass-misuari-biff
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