MILF: GPH peace panel to reach out to BBL critics

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 6): GPH peace panel to reach out to BBL critics

 

In a statement yesterday (April 5), Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, Chairperson of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) Peace panel said that, “The government peace panel will continue to reach out to critics of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

“The good Lord said, what good would it do if you love only brothers? To have peace, we need to reach out to those who are not like us. May Easter bring back love,” Ferrer said.

The deliberations on the draft BBL by both Houses of Congress were suspended following the death of 44 Philippine  National Police- Special action Force (PNP-SAF) Commandos in a clash with rebels belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)  last January 25 in Tukanalipao,Mamasapano. Maguindanao. The same encounter, 17 MILF combatants and 3 civilians were also killed.

In an earlier statement, Ferrer said that the government is not “over-financing” the proposed Bangsamoro regional government or even the ARMM, and the latter is even “underfunded”.

Comparing the projected Bangsamoro budget with the funds received by other regions like the National Capital Region from the national government, Ferrer said that the P35 billion the government proposes to give the Bangsamoro in its first year is only half of what is being spent by the government in NCR.

“Today, the ARMM gets about P15,000 per capita subsidy from the national government. Compare that to the P34,000 per capita that Metro Manilans get from the national budget,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer said that the per capita subsidy is the average amount that goes to each resident in the region.

Even with the P8 billion to P11 billion new money that will go to the Bangsamoro if it is established in 2016, Ferrer said the per capita in the Bangsamoro would increase to only about P18,000.  

She also clarified that the power and authority of constitutional bodies like the Commission on Audit (COA), Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and Civil Service Commission (CSC) will not be diminished. 

Ferrer said that these agencies would operate like regional offices or as supplementary offices in the Bangsamoro that would help strengthen the system of checks and balances in the region.

She also reiterated that the proposed BBL does not provide for automatic integration of armed fighters of the MILF to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, but they could apply and need to go through the rigorous standard hiring processes applied by the AFP and the PNP.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/832-gph-peace-panel-to-reach-out-to-bbl-critics