The peace process between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) remains on track even with the expected delay in the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said on Friday.
Despite the statement of the House of Representatives leadership that it could take the chamber until February of next year to approve the BBL as contained in House Bill 4994, Iqbal said the development in the peace process was still within the time frame that the MILF and national government peace negotiators wanted.
Iqbal said there was still ample time for the ratification of the BBL through a plebiscite and the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to govern Mindanao for one year until 2016 elections. This, he said, even after the House of Representatives moved to its target to pass the BBL from December 17 to February 2015,
“Actually yung February na sinasabi ng Kongreso, that's internal to them. Ang settled na issue dyan is, kailangan ang term ng Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) would be at least one year. So, if you look at the calendar, the BTA should be in place in May 2015 and we're still in November right now, so, althrough time runs very fast, we're still on track,” Iqbal said.
According to the draft BBL as contained in House Bill 4994, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will serve as the interim government of the region for one year upon the BBL's ratification through a plebiscite.
Afterwhich, all powers will be transferred to the Bangsamoro government, officials of which will be elected by the people of the region in 2016 elections.
The Bangsamoro government is set to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Asked during the forum if the MILF and the government had an alternative plan if the BBL would be passed, Iqbal replied: “There is no plan B, only plan A. We trust the government, we trust President Aquino. For Congress, we trust their collective wisdom that this BBL is going to happen.”
For her part, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Secretary Yasmin Busran-Lao also expressed confidence that the BBL passage and ratification would push through.
“We owe it to the people (in Mindanao) for their voices to be heard through the plebiscite. And the kind of support being expressed all over the country gives me hope that we are now ready for the sustainable peace process,” Lao said.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles said officials continued to work closely with Congress to iron out contentious issues on the BBL such as provisions on wealth and power sharing, the Shariah justice system and peace and security administration among others.
“I'm sure the Congress recognizes the urgency, the (time) constraints in terms of possible Supreme Court challenges...We are at the cusp of a very real possibility of achieving peace and the Bangsamoro Basic Law is instrumental in making it happen,” Deles said.
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