Rough sailing for MILF basic law, peace pact

From the Daily Tribune (Jan 30): Rough sailing for MILF basic law, peace pact

It looks like money will again be flowing in the hundreds of millions of pesos in Congress courtesy of Malacañang, as President Aquino yesterday exuded confidence that his political allies in Congress, who are in the majority in the House of Representatives, would see to it that the measure on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, with all the provisions found in the Framework Agreement and the annexes and addendum on Bangsamore waters, will have smooth sailing.

 

Senate President Franklin Drilon also stated that he is certain that not only will there be bipartisan support for the passage of the Basic Law of the so-called Bangsamoro nation in the Senate but will also be supported overwhelmingly by the Filipino people.

“Well, of course if that goes to Congress, we could have a bit of apprehension or maybe we would need some negotiations with them (members of Congress) so as not to have doubts. There could be some of them whose information is incomplete or what we call as fear of the unknown,” Aquino said.

Aquino complained that he had read in a certain newspaper that raised questions relating to the amendment of the Constitution to suit the provisions of the Bangsamoro Agreement.    

Aquino explained that there was no commitment in the Bangsamoro Agreement which committed the change in the Constitution.

“So, it could create in the mind that this insinuation is not based in the Constitution,” Aquino said.

Aquino said the Transition Commission would reveal its report that the critics of the Bangsamoro Agreement should read in detail because everything is in accordance with the Constitution.

“I would be the first to be surprised because right from the start, this framework should have been covered by the Constitution to have a peaceful  implementation,” Aquino said.

Aquino said the decision of the central government on the wealth sharing should be given consideration because the localities in the ARMM have been so behind in development.

“We want now to give equal sharing to every Filipino. Those who have been left behind in development should now be given what we call as affirmative action or accelerated action,” Aquino said.

Malacañang has reason to be wary over the fate in Congress of the proposed law that will establish a new autonomous political entity in Mindanao, once it is submitted to the two Houses for deliberations and passage.

One administration senator admitted that proposed powers to be devolved to the Bangsamoro government will likely be the sticky issues among lawmakers.

“In principle yes (I support it). But as they say the devil is in the details. There will be sticky issues like what powers will be given up, what powers will be devolved to the new entity. That will be the debating points,” said Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara.

Drilon remained confident that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law will have the support, not only of the lawmakers but the public in general.

“I can see a bipartisan support. It doesn’t mean that there will be no debate. But this is our last chance for a peaceful settlement of the problem,” he said.
Drilon also expressed belief that the government should not be distracted by the renewed fighting in Mindanao amid the signing of the government panel and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of the last and the most contentious of the four annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).

“That should not distract the government and this is our last chance to achieve peace. The fighting in the south at this point, to me is not unexpected. There are groups which are opposed to the peace process, although this, to me is not unexpected. But I am certain that if we handle the situation and at the end of the day, the entire nation will rally behind this peace agreement,” he said, adding that the government should continue enforcing the law in dealing with the supposed rebels.

Besides the devolution of powers to the Bangsamoro government, Angara also noted that territorial integrity is also a concern in passing the proposed law.

The presidential cousin Bam Aquino, another administration member in the upper chamber, said that while he welcomes the signing of the final annexes, he raised concerns on the economic provisions of the agreement.

“We also have to look at improving economic conditions of the area. Even if you have peace and yet the people there are poor, it will defeat the whole peace process. (Government) agencies have to work double time to make sure that  economic growth of affected areas is increasing or higher than rest of country,” Aquino said.

But the Bangsamoro Basic Law being drafted by a special commission may likely face rough sailing at the House of Representatives courtesy of the minority bloc.

At a press briefing Wednesday, House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora noted that “many questions are still left unanswered” regarding the final framework agreement between the government and the MILF.

The minority is still unclear about the rights of  non-Muslims, such as the Christians and the Indigenous people  in the proposed Bangsamoro Political Entity, which is intended to  replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We can’t speak for the Congress, but for the minority we have many questions to ask regarding the final framework,” Zamora said. “Many questions are still left unanswered, we are not yet satisfied regarding important things, including territory and the certain rights of non-Muslims in the area.”

 

Zamora said concerns of non-Muslims on the peace agreement should be addressed by the government.

“Keep in mind that Muslim Mindanao is part of a larger Mindanao territory and communities  and we would like to make sure that all Filipinos living in Mindanao and ARMM have their rights protected,” Zamora said.

“What about the others, who should pay attention to their concerns? What about the larger concerns of even a larger community like the non-Muslims?”

Among the concerns raised by Zamora were those pertaining to the proposed Bangsamoro territory and other provisions of the agreement.

Zamora is also wary about the sudden surfacing of splinter Muslim groups whose leaders feel being left out in the peace deal or whose concerns have not been addressed.

“The MILF occupied roughly the position of something like the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) now.  The agreement then was with the MNLF and that fell by the wayside after two decades,” The San Juan lawmaker said.

The BIFF is a Misauri-led group under the Moro National Liberation Front that recently laid siege to  Zamboanga City.

The minority leader, however, admitted that his group  has no conclusive opinion on the entirety of the peace deal yet, saying they will have to wait until the basic law is at the plenary to form an opinion.

“There is a big community of non-Muslims living in Mindanao. We are prepared to wait for answers, to listen to suggestions. You’ll see how we make up our mind as we ask questions,” he said.

“We want to know about the reserves that are going to be protected, and the (sharing of power) of the national and regional government. Many things we want to know, and we will ask. But as of now we’re reading and studying,” he said.

Meanwhile, as they talk peace, the fighting in Mindanao goes on with the days of fighting between government forces and Moro rebels slowly spreading in Maguindanao province, with the military resorting to propaganda, claiming to have killed 40 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) which continues to put up resistance against the government’s so-called law enforcement operations.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID), said that fighting was reported in the towns of Datu Piang, Shariff Saydona Mustapha and Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

Hermoso said the military has sought extension of the 72-hour period given to conduct deliberate law enforcement operations against wanted personalities identified with the BIFF in Maguindanao province.

The Joint Cooridnating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) of the government of the Philippines and the MILF gave the go signal for the police and military to launch the operations against BIFF last Monday.

Aquino vowed Wednesday to crush militants opposed to an imminent deal aimed at ending a decades-long Muslim separatist insurgency, as the death toll from a military assault on them rose to 38.

“The armed forces...is going on these operations to prevent lawless activities from inflicting harm on our population, and to seriously degrade their abilities to again act as (peace) spoilers,” Aquino told reporters in Manila.

Hermoso said he expected the fighting to be over in about three days, although he made no mention of the military’s initially stated goals of capturing the BIFF’s top leaders. 

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/rough-sailing-for-milf-basic-law-peace-pact