GPH peace panel chair calls Congress to push for Bangsamoro law vs extremism

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 18): GPH peace panel chair calls Congress to push for Bangsamoro law vs extremism

In light of the recent terrorist attack in Indonesia last week, Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel chair Professor Miriam Coronel–Ferrer cited the urgency for legislators to act on the draft Bangsamoro law as Congress resumes session on Monday.

Ferrer reiterated its call for lawmakers to enact the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), noting that the recent terrorist attack in Indonesia should serve as a wake up call in countering the influence of extremist groups among the local population.

"I reiterate our appeal to our legislators in the joint peace panels’ open letter to them which we issued last November 26 after the attack on Paris, in view of the recent violence in Indonesia, which is so much closer to home," she said.

"The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the draft Bangsamoro law are social justice measures, but from the global security perspective, these are also a containment measure against jihadist extremism,” she added.

Ferrer said the creation of the Bangsamoro autonomous region will strengthen current efforts by different stakeholders in Mindanao, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in March 2014, to stop the armed conflict in the South and stem the tide of extremism that has sprouted in Africa and the Middle East in the recent years.

The open letter signed by both Ferrer and MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal quoted the statement made by National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia before Congress during the committee hearings on the draft law.

According to Garcia, the BBL is designed to help curb the "spread of extremism in Mindanao."

"In particular, the Bangsamoro government would be able to help moderate Islamic leaders to counter the ideology of radicalism being promoted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and steer the Muslim community away from ISIS influence," he argued.

Furthermore, the completion of the Bangsamoro peace process will have positive national security implications as it will close one of the serious internal armed conflicts in the country, Garcia noted.

"(This will) essentially free up a significant component of the Armed Forces of the Philippines… to shift resources to focus on external concerns, principally the protection of our external territorial integrity and maritime domain which is now being threatened,” he added.

Recently, ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Jakarta, Indonesia last January 14 which claimed the lives of seven people, including five of the assailants, and leaving 23 people wounded.

This event raised concerns from the international community to the Philippines due to the continuing delay in the Mindanao peace talks.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=847665