Let me state the fact: The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, in
whatever shape or form, did not make it out of the 16th Congress.
The sheer indifference and chronic absenteeism of majority
of the legislators manifested in the lack of quorum almost on a daily basis in
the House of Representatives, and the prolonged and repetitive interpellation
of oppositors ate up the remaining sessions.
In the Senate, the intermittent absence of the bill sponsor
and the remaining interpellator stalled the deliberation. Moreover, a belated
change in procedure was entertained. Only last December 2015, the Senate
practically conceded that the Bangsamoro bill is of local application and
therefore the upper chamber should have just waited for the House version to be
remanded to it.
In all, 40 public hearings and 14 plenary deliberations
conducted by the HoR Ad hoc Committee chaired by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, and 15
public hearings and 14 sessions of plenary interpellations led by local
governments committee chair Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. amounted to nothing,
along with the millions of pesos of taxpayers' money used up to finance these
drawn-out proceedings.
It is only to be expected that the Filipino people,
especially those in the Bangsamoro who had pinned high hopes on this new law,
are grieving, hurting, and once again, dreading what tomorrow may bring.
However, the collective inaction of our legislators to
complete the deliberation on the BBL did not, and will not, stop the momentum
of the Bangsamoro peace process. At this low point, we call for sobriety and
perseverance.
The work many among us started and accomplished together
through 17 years of hard negotiations and vigorous efforts to jumpstart and
move the implementation of the road map cannot be taken away. The Comprehensive
Agreement of the Bangsamoro (CAB) remains a signed document that binds the
Government of the Philippines
The CAB duly takes into consideration the diverse interests
of different stakeholders in the Bangsamoro region, and provides the guideposts
to institute meaningful autonomy and promote social justice through equitable
distribution of wealth and political power in Muslim Mindanao - the very same
obligations that the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandated Congress to do.
The CAB prescribes the steps and mechanisms for the
transformation of conflict-affected areas and MILF camps into secure, productive
communities. The agreement also provides for a gradual and phased process of
decommissioning of MILF weapons and combatants. It addresses the threat posed
by other armed groups and creates the spaces for the convergence of other
Bangsamoro claimants such as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the
new autonomous government envisioned.
The CAB also includes transitional justice and
reconciliation measures that will address historical injustices and heal the
wounds of war, and remove the biases and prejudices that have created the huge
gap in understanding and affection between the Filipino majority and minority
populations.
It took a long time to get to this set of practical steps.
We need to take away the fear and distrust of the Bangsamoro for our country to
become whole. We therefore urge our politicians and fellow citizens to take the
time to study the history of the conflict and the peace process so as to get a
better understanding of the road map and our unflinching efforts to see it through.
As members of the GPH negotiating panel, we will do
everything in the remaining time we have to ensure that the infrastructure for
implementing the peace accord are fully functional so that the next
administration will be in a good position to carry forward the full
implementation of the agreement.
The road map laid out in the CAB remains viable even as we
shall now be crafting adjustments in the timeline.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=853505
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