BTC Chairman Mohagher Iqbal allayed the growing fears of the religious community by reassuring them that the MILF will continue in peace building even if the BBL would not be enacted by the present Congress.
In a forum organized by the Interreligious Council of the Philippines on September 21 at the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Manila, Iqbal explained that the MILF has already gained milestones in its political struggle and would not compromise its gains by unnecessarily reverting to armed struggle.
In fact, the MILF is already readying for democratic struggle once a good BBL is passed, Iqbal said in that whole-day workshop convened by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue (CBCP-ECID), National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP), Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEP), Focolare, Religions for Peace Philippines and Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
Iqbal likened the current discourses on the BBL to a lost traveller.
“But unlike a lost traveller, those who want to solve the Bangsamoro Problem, which is the sole agenda of the GPH-MILF peace negotiations since 1997, have at their disposals all the agreements especially the earlier ones signed by the Parties, not only to base their formulations or textual comprehensions, but also to understand the context and frame of mind of the Parties…,” he stated.
Iqbal also said that he is still “tempted to believe that Congress has the collective wisdom to pass a good BBL”, but it has been “hijacked by delays and lack of quorums.”
After the forum, Iqbal and some BTC commissioners went to the Senate to observe plenary session. Unfortunately no interpellation on the BBL happened because Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., principal sponsor of SB 2894, was absent.
In the House of Representatives, while a quorum was met, the principal sponsor of HB 5811 Cong. Rufus Rodriguez was also absent.
“I stopped analyzing whether a good BBL is forthcoming or not,” Iqbal frankly told the priests, pastors, ulama, professors and theologians.
He reiterated the stand of the MILF that it will not accept a watered down version of the BBL because it would “just be a continuation of the (Bangsamoro) problem.”
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/new/item/586-iqbal-there-is-life-even-after-non-passage-of-bbl
In fact, the MILF is already readying for democratic struggle once a good BBL is passed, Iqbal said in that whole-day workshop convened by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue (CBCP-ECID), National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP), Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEP), Focolare, Religions for Peace Philippines and Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
Iqbal likened the current discourses on the BBL to a lost traveller.
“But unlike a lost traveller, those who want to solve the Bangsamoro Problem, which is the sole agenda of the GPH-MILF peace negotiations since 1997, have at their disposals all the agreements especially the earlier ones signed by the Parties, not only to base their formulations or textual comprehensions, but also to understand the context and frame of mind of the Parties…,” he stated.
Iqbal also said that he is still “tempted to believe that Congress has the collective wisdom to pass a good BBL”, but it has been “hijacked by delays and lack of quorums.”
After the forum, Iqbal and some BTC commissioners went to the Senate to observe plenary session. Unfortunately no interpellation on the BBL happened because Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., principal sponsor of SB 2894, was absent.
In the House of Representatives, while a quorum was met, the principal sponsor of HB 5811 Cong. Rufus Rodriguez was also absent.
“I stopped analyzing whether a good BBL is forthcoming or not,” Iqbal frankly told the priests, pastors, ulama, professors and theologians.
He reiterated the stand of the MILF that it will not accept a watered down version of the BBL because it would “just be a continuation of the (Bangsamoro) problem.”
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/new/item/586-iqbal-there-is-life-even-after-non-passage-of-bbl
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