MNLF won't attend House deliberations on BBL

From the Philippine Star posted to ABS-CBN (Apr 23): MNLF won't attend House deliberations on BBL

The Moro National Liberation Front has reiterated that the group will not participate in the ongoing House deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which it said is a ''betrayal'' of the 1996 final peace agreement forged by the government with the MNLF.

MNLF spokesman Absalum Cerveza said he has submitted a memorandum to Iyadf Ameen Madani, secretary- general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), during a meeting in Davao City last April 17 that the MNLF is not interested in participating in the House hearings on the BBL.

The draft law seeks the creation of a Bangsamoro territory, part of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

MNLF leaders have claimed that the BBL will practically abrogate the 1996 peace agreement.

Madani had earlier called on all rebel groups in Mindanao to support the incorporation of the BBL with the 1996 peace accord.

The OIC leaders had told lawmakers to consult the MNLF leaders during deliberations on the BBL.

Madani said the BBL should be taken in the context of other peace agreements the government signed with the MNLF.

Cerveza, however, said that synchronizing the BBL with the 1996 peace accord at this point in time is an exercise in futility since the MNLF has revised its struggle to the original political objective of independence for Mindanao.

He said the MNLF petition for self-determination is now pending before the United Nations committee on decolonization.

“The BBL deals with the same agreement, the same territory and the same people that has been forged in the 1996 peace agreement,” Cerveza said.

He said because of the existing peace agreement there is a strong possibility that the Supreme Court will declare the BBL as unconstitutional once it is passed into law.
“The BBL hearings are an exercise in futility because eventually it will be declared unconstitutional,” Cerveza said.

During the meeting with MNLF leaders in Davao City, the OIC manifested support to MNLF founding chairman Nur Misauri as the recognized representative of the Bangsamoro people given permanent observer status during the annual plenary sessions of the Islamic organization, Cerveza said.

Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) renewed yesterday their commitment to the Mindanao peace process as they called for passage of the draft BBL.

The bill is the enabling measure for the creation of a Bangsamoro government, to replace the ARMM.

In a manifesto, ARMM officials led by Gov. Mujiv Hataman said the BBL will usher in lasting peace and development in Mindanao’s Moro-dominated areas.
 http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/04/23/15/mnlf-wont-attend-house-deliberations-bbl