Saturday, November 7, 2015

MILF: Gov't chief peace negotiator renews call to Congress to pass BBL

Posted to the MILF Website (Nov 7): Gov't chief peace negotiator renews call to Congress to pass BBL

Government of the Philippines (GPH) chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer renewed her appeal to the lawmakers to work towards the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the measure deemed to end the decades of conflict in Southern Philippines.

In the online news dated November 2 posted at the website of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Ferrer said, ""Prior to recess, our Congress has been plagued by a lack of quorum and absenteeism. I call on our lawmakers, under the leadership of House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Senate President Franklin Drilon, to collectively work together in passing this landmark legislation."

"Passing the basic law that will establish the Bangsamoro region this Congress will allow the next president of the Republic and the next Congress to focus on other measures and bills. Let us act with wisdom and with full appreciation of the pressing and immediate need to correct this historical disunity," she urged.

Last month, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III highlighted the passage of the BBL as his top legislative priority in his last face-to-face guesting with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).

Ferrer added, ""I reiterate the appeal of the GPH negotiating panel, of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), and the rest of the proponents of the Bangsamoro peace process to our lawmakers to be present in the remaining sessions of Congress and finish what they've began." 

The original draft of the BBL was forwarded to both Houses of Congress last year. Thereafter, both Chambers conducted separate public hearings which culminated in the endorsement of substitute bills known as the Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Regions (BLBAR). 

The substitute bills are being tackled in the plenary and not the original draft. The MILF said it will not accept a diluted BBL for it will not serve its purpose of addressing the decades of neglect, injustice and problems of the Bangsamoro people. 

Various stakeholders have joined the call to Congress to pass a Bangsamoro law consistent with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, a peace truce signed by the GPH and Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2014.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/new/item/659-gov-t-chief-peace-negotiator-renews-call-to-congress-to-pass-bbl

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.