Friday, October 9, 2015

MILF: Election fever should not delay BBL passage - GPH Peace Panel

Posted to the MILF Website (Oct 9): Election fever should not delay BBL passage - GPH Peace Panel

.Photo courtesy of OPAPP

Photo courtesy of OPAPP

“While we understand that everyone is gearing up for the elections, that is not reason to not come back to work in November to finish all the important pending legislation,” GPH Chief Peace Negotiator Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.

In a news item posted at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process website, it said that the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front Peace Panels together with active members of Congress from Mindanao held a press conference on October 7 “to shed better light on the status of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) amidst recent uncertainties and continuing delays.”

Coronel-Ferrer disclosed, “We have communicated to our representatives at the House the urgency of apprising the public especially the Bangsamoro people who have been waiting with bated breath for the realization of their aspiration for genuine autonomy.”

“The Bangsamoro want and need the BBL. Let us not drive them to hopelessness by continuously delaying the process and keeping them in the dark of the bill’s status. We don’t want them, or any segment of the Filipino people, losing trust in our government institutions,” she stressed.

The Commission on Elections has set the period for the filing of candidacy on October 12-16 for national and local positions. As the election season kicks off, Congress faces difficulty in constituting a quorum.

Leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives have expressed doubt that the BBL could be passed before the October 9 recess of Congress. A new deadline for its passage was set on December 16 this year.

“Why pass it in December if we can do it this November? After all, with the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Conference) here, the world will once again be watching the Philippines and it will be good for the whole country to have a BBL before then.”

The BBL is the legal translation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the fruit of more than 17 years of negotiations between the government and the MILF. It will establish a parliamentary autonomous government that will replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) if passed by Congress.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/new/item/605-election-fever-should-not-delay-bbl-passage-gph-peace-panel

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