An official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro group that negotiated and forged an agreement with the Aquino administration for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Entity in Mindanao, urged the government the other day to ensure that the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) now pending in Congress “will not come out different from the original BBL.”
It seems that to this day, the MILF leaders are holding on to their expectation that the BBL – which is based on the MILF’s agreement several months ago with an administration peace panel — will still make it through Congress, as is. They are not ready to accept any amendment, any change in the bill that was originally submitted to Congress by the Aquino administration.
During the series of hearings in both in the Senate and the House of Representatives, many provisions of the original BBL were deemed unconstitutional. The Senate replaced the BBL with an entirely new draft. Even in the House, the congressmen have shown a great reluctance to act on the bill, absenting themselves from plenary sessions so that there has not been a quorum when the bill was scheduled.
In a meeting in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, last Saturday, MILF leaders attributed the slow progress of the BBL in Congress to (1) “lack of political will” by the Aquino administration and (2) disunity in the ranks of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the parent organization of the MILF. The meeting was specifically called to encourage the separate MNLF groups to unite, so that the government would see that the Moro leaders are solidly behind the BBL.
Those pushing for the BBL, however, should understand that it is not likely to pass without amendments. Uniting the MNLF and getting it to stand solidly beside the MILF and insist on the original BBL will not improve the situation.
It will only harden positions all around.
An effort must be made to get both sides back to the negotiating table. The alternative is much too difficult to contemplate.
http://www.tempo.com.ph/2015/12/19/talks-needed-if-the-bangsamoro-bill-is-to-be-saved/
During the series of hearings in both in the Senate and the House of Representatives, many provisions of the original BBL were deemed unconstitutional. The Senate replaced the BBL with an entirely new draft. Even in the House, the congressmen have shown a great reluctance to act on the bill, absenting themselves from plenary sessions so that there has not been a quorum when the bill was scheduled.
In a meeting in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, last Saturday, MILF leaders attributed the slow progress of the BBL in Congress to (1) “lack of political will” by the Aquino administration and (2) disunity in the ranks of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the parent organization of the MILF. The meeting was specifically called to encourage the separate MNLF groups to unite, so that the government would see that the Moro leaders are solidly behind the BBL.
Those pushing for the BBL, however, should understand that it is not likely to pass without amendments. Uniting the MNLF and getting it to stand solidly beside the MILF and insist on the original BBL will not improve the situation.
It will only harden positions all around.
An effort must be made to get both sides back to the negotiating table. The alternative is much too difficult to contemplate.
http://www.tempo.com.ph/2015/12/19/talks-needed-if-the-bangsamoro-bill-is-to-be-saved/
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