BBL won’t be renegotiated, MILF warns Malacañang

From the Daily Tribune (Jul 26): BBL won’t be renegotiated, MILF warns Malacañang

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has maintained it won’t renegotiate matters that were settled in the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) as the Muslim group blamed the Aquino administration for the delays in the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which would pave the way for a Bangsamoro government.

In its Website, the MILF said the Government of the Republic of Philippines (GRP) version of the BBL will not bring a peaceful resolution to the Bangsamoro Question.

“Obviously, the government peace panel line is to let the MILF accept a version of the BBL that may be constitutional but will not solve the Bangsamoro Question,” it stressed, apparently referring to the “diluted” version of the BBL returned by the Office of the President (OP) to
the MILF last June 23.

“On the other hand, the MILF overall objective is to end tyranny, restore dignity and secure a bright and prosperous future for all in the Bangsamoro Homeland. The current government proposals will not restore dignity to a people who suffered tyranny and will not secure a peaceful and prosperous future,” it added.

The MILF also blamed the government for the delays in the passage of the BBL as it enumerated the reasons the BBL, which was submitted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) to the OP last April 22, has been delayed.

The MILF cited first the 61-day period that took Malacañang in reviewing the BBL. The OP returned the BBL, already diluted, to the MILF only last June 23.

The MILF also said the four-tiered BTC-OP never took place except for the fourth and highest engagement between President Aquino and MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in Hiroshima, Japan, last June 24.

“The OP’s comments on the BBL, which is essentially the position pursued by the GRP peace panel, diluted the BTC’s text and have in many instances departed from the letter and spirit of the FAB and its Annexes, which is the basis of the crafting of the BBL,” the MILF stated.

“Moreover, the OP adopted a very conservative interpretation of the Constitution, which is a radical departure from what the government has been saying — and promised — that the flexibility of the Constitution would enable them to implement the FAB and its Annexes,” it added.

According to the MILF, many delays in the passage of BBL are actually caused by issues already settled in the FAB and its annexes but are “kept on coming back and forth at the instance of the GRP,” like for instance, ancestral domain to ancestral domains, central to national, Bangsamoro people to Bangsamoro peoples, among others.

“In view of the wide disparity between the two positions of the two parties, finding an agreed version takes some time,” the MILF said.

The MILF stressed that, just like the GRP, it is working on the timeline to have the BBL submitted before the House of Representatives immediately after Monday’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Aquino. It cited that even if the MILF panel members are fasting, they are stretching the protocols, including the absence of Malaysian facilitator, to come up with agreed version of the BBL.

The MILF is standing firm on its position on the current discussion of the BBL, which it officially registered during the special meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

“All those issues that are settled in the FAB and its Annexes will not be subject for renegotiation; and settled language in the FAB and its annexes will not be subject for renegotiation,” the MILF pointed out.

“If both parties only abide by these commitments, the process would really move forward faster and save them from some irritating moments in their current engagement. More importantly, the MILF will never renegotiate these settled issues,” it added.

In an apparent bid to pacify the “doubting” MILF, Aquino said he will aggressively push the long-delayed enactment of the draft BBL in Congress.

“I want to be able to push this (BBL) with conviction,” the President stressed, adding it is his obligation to the people who are yearning for peace in Mindanao.

Aquino said both parties must work together to bridge the differences.
Holding a print out of Murad’s speech during the March signing ceremony for the CAB, the President read out this sentence: “After all, the CAB is not only for the MILF, but also for the MNLF, for all Muslim ethnic tribes, Christian settlers and indigenous peoples.”

A political analyst, however, noted that the CAB may not materialize after all as the administration has been preoccupied in defending Aquino and his minions over major issues that haunt his leadership, the latest of which were the “unconstitutional” Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and impeachment complaints filed against him.

“After four long years doing peace talks, the Philippine government and the MILF continue to hurdle with constitutional issues on the agreement they signed as it is about to be translated into basic law and face scrutiny in Congress and possibly in the Supreme Court,” said Dean Julkipli Wadi of the Institute of Islamic Studies of the University of the Philippines-Asian Center.

In a public forum entitled: “A Damaged Presidency, A Besieged Administration,” held yesterday at the Assembly Hall of UP’s National College of Public Administration and Governance which was hosted by the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), Wadi said Malacañang’s last-ditch effort to water down the draft of the BBL amid MILF’s insistence to have its own government in 2016 “is ominous of the difficulty ahead.”

Part of the pressure, he said, was the changing context into which the Aquino presidency has gone through enjoying high popularity before but now taking more defensive stances specially with Supreme Court’s ruling on DAP and impeachment charges filed against the President.

On the ground, coherence or at least some semblance of unity among Bangsamoros, their major players and stakeholders is even more wanting, Waldi said.

He further said that the Sabah standoff and the war in Zamboanga last year including the continuing campaign of violence by other rebel groups are “symptomatic of rough road of the Mindanao peace process.”

“Now, many people are concerned how the Aquino administration would be able to rally the major branches of government and the public to support the project to end the Mindanao conflict,” Waldi said.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/bbl-won-t-be-renegotiated-milf-warns-malacanang