From the Daily Tribune (Jan 30):
Rough sailing for MILF basic law, peace pact
It looks
like money will again be flowing in the hundreds of millions of pesos in
Congress courtesy of Malacañang, as President Aquino yesterday exuded
confidence that his political allies in Congress, who are in the majority in
the House of Representatives, would see to it that the measure on the
Bangsamoro Basic Law, with all the provisions found in the Framework Agreement
and the annexes and addendum on Bangsamore waters, will have smooth sailing.
Senate President Franklin Drilon also stated that he is certain that not only
will there be bipartisan support for the passage of the Basic Law of the
so-called Bangsamoro nation in the Senate but will also be supported
overwhelmingly by the Filipino people.
“Well, of course if that goes to Congress, we could have a bit of apprehension
or maybe we would need some negotiations with them (members of Congress) so as
not to have doubts. There could be some of them whose information is incomplete
or what we call as fear of the unknown,” Aquino said.
Aquino complained that he had read in a certain newspaper that raised questions
relating to the amendment of the Constitution to suit the provisions of the
Bangsamoro Agreement.
Aquino explained that there was no commitment in the Bangsamoro Agreement which
committed the change in the Constitution.
“So, it could create in the mind that this insinuation is not based in the
Constitution,” Aquino said.
Aquino said the Transition Commission would reveal its report that the critics
of the Bangsamoro Agreement should read in detail because everything is in
accordance with the Constitution.
“I would be the first to be surprised because right from the start, this
framework should have been covered by the Constitution to have a peaceful
implementation,” Aquino said.
Aquino said the decision of the central government on the wealth sharing should
be given consideration because the localities in the ARMM have been so behind
in development.
“We want now to give equal sharing to every Filipino. Those who have been left
behind in development should now be given what we call as affirmative action or
accelerated action,” Aquino said.
Malacañang has reason to be wary over the fate in Congress of the proposed law
that will establish a new autonomous political entity in Mindanao,
once it is submitted to the two Houses for deliberations and passage.
One administration senator admitted that proposed powers to be devolved to the
Bangsamoro government will likely be the sticky issues among lawmakers.
“In principle yes (I support it). But as they say the devil is in the details.
There will be sticky issues like what powers will be given up, what powers will
be devolved to the new entity. That will be the debating points,” said Sen.
Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara.
Drilon remained confident that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law will have the
support, not only of the lawmakers but the public in general.
“I can see a bipartisan support. It doesn’t mean that there will be no debate.
But this is our last chance for a peaceful settlement of the problem,” he said.
Drilon also expressed belief that the government should not be distracted by
the renewed fighting in Mindanao amid the signing of the government panel and
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of the last and the most contentious
of the four annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).
“That should not distract the government and this is our last chance to achieve
peace. The fighting in the south at this point, to me is not unexpected. There
are groups which are opposed to the peace process, although this, to me is not
unexpected. But I am certain that if we handle the situation and at the end of
the day, the entire nation will rally behind this peace agreement,” he said,
adding that the government should continue enforcing the law in dealing with
the supposed rebels.
Besides the devolution of powers to the Bangsamoro government, Angara also noted that territorial integrity is also a
concern in passing the proposed law.
The presidential cousin Bam Aquino, another administration member in the upper
chamber, said that while he welcomes the signing of the final annexes, he
raised concerns on the economic provisions of the agreement.
“We also have to look at improving economic conditions of the area. Even if you
have peace and yet the people there are poor, it will defeat the whole peace
process. (Government) agencies have to work double time to make sure that
economic growth of affected areas is increasing or higher than rest of
country,” Aquino said.
But the Bangsamoro Basic Law being drafted by a special commission may likely
face rough sailing at the House of Representatives courtesy of the minority
bloc.
At a press briefing Wednesday, House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora noted that
“many questions are still left unanswered” regarding the final framework
agreement between the government and the MILF.
The minority is still unclear about the rights of non-Muslims, such as
the Christians and the Indigenous people in the proposed Bangsamoro
Political Entity, which is intended to replace the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
“We can’t speak for the Congress, but for the minority we have many questions
to ask regarding the final framework,” Zamora
said. “Many questions are still left unanswered, we are not yet satisfied
regarding important things, including territory and the certain rights of
non-Muslims in the area.”
Zamora said
concerns of non-Muslims on the peace agreement should be addressed by the
government.
“Keep in mind that Muslim Mindanao is part of a larger Mindanao territory and
communities and we would like to make sure that all Filipinos living in
Mindanao and ARMM have their rights protected,” Zamora said.
“What about the others, who should pay attention to their concerns? What about
the larger concerns of even a larger community like the non-Muslims?”
Among the concerns raised by Zamora
were those pertaining to the proposed Bangsamoro territory and other provisions
of the agreement.
Zamora is also wary about the sudden surfacing of splinter Muslim groups whose
leaders feel being left out in the peace deal or whose concerns have not been
addressed.
“The MILF occupied roughly the position of something like the BIFF (Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters) now. The agreement then was with the MNLF and
that fell by the wayside after two decades,” The San Juan lawmaker said.
The BIFF is a Misauri-led group under the Moro National Liberation Front that
recently laid siege to Zamboanga
City.
The minority leader, however, admitted that his group has no conclusive
opinion on the entirety of the peace deal yet, saying they will have to wait
until the basic law is at the plenary to form an opinion.
“There is a big community of non-Muslims living in Mindanao.
We are prepared to wait for answers, to listen to suggestions. You’ll see how
we make up our mind as we ask questions,” he said.
“We want to know about the reserves that are going to be protected, and the
(sharing of power) of the national and regional government. Many things we want
to know, and we will ask. But as of now we’re reading and studying,” he said.
Meanwhile, as they talk peace, the fighting in Mindanao goes on with the days
of fighting between government forces and Moro rebels slowly spreading in
Maguindanao province, with the military resorting to propaganda, claiming to
have killed 40 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) which
continues to put up resistance against the government’s so-called law
enforcement operations.
Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID), said
that fighting was reported in the towns of Datu Piang, Shariff Saydona Mustapha
and Datu Saudi Ampatuan.
Hermoso said the military has sought extension of the 72-hour period given to
conduct deliberate law enforcement operations against wanted personalities
identified with the BIFF in Maguindanao province.
The Joint Cooridnating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) of the
government of the Philippines
and the MILF gave the go signal for the police and military to launch the
operations against BIFF last Monday.
Aquino vowed Wednesday to crush militants opposed to an imminent deal aimed at
ending a decades-long Muslim separatist insurgency, as the death toll from a
military assault on them rose to 38.
“The armed forces...is going on these operations to prevent lawless activities
from inflicting harm on our population, and to seriously degrade their
abilities to again act as (peace) spoilers,” Aquino told reporters in Manila.
Hermoso said he expected the fighting to be over in about three days, although
he made no mention of the military’s initially stated goals of capturing the
BIFF’s top leaders.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/rough-sailing-for-milf-basic-law-peace-pact
