Road to peace in Mindanao: The Bangsamoro Basic Law

From CNN-Philippines (Feb 11): Road to peace in Mindanao: The Bangsamoro Basic Law



Children draw peace murals outside Malacañan Palace after the conclusion of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Philippine government and the MILF on March 27, 2014.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 11) — Conflict in Mindanao has been one of the country's biggest issues that dates back decades, gaining its roots from disputes over land and religion.

The Moros, faced with land-grabbing of their ancestral lands, have been fighting for what their claim is rightfully theirs, with rebel groups such as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) turning to violence.

Past administrations have tried to attain peace in the south through negotiations, but none have succeeded. The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is the latest of the government's efforts to quell the conflict in Mindanao.

2008

July

Under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a breakaway faction of the MNLF, announced the creation of the Memorandum of Agreement-Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), a document that outlined the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity with its own police, military and judicial systems.

The MOA-AD gave way to the creation of an autonomous political region and was deemed a crucial step to negotiating peace in Mindanao.

October

After issuing a temporary restraining order on the signing of the MOA-AD, the Supreme Court declared the document unconstitutional and illegal.

2012

October

Now under the Benigno Aquino III administration, the government and the MILF concluded its 32nd round of exploratory talks, creating the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

Marvic Leonen and Mohagher Iqbal, the respective chairpersons of the government's and MILF's peace panels, signed a peace agreement in Malacañang.

December

President Aquino created the 15-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) that will craft the BBL, following a technical impasse on the 34th round of peace talks.

2014

March

After multiple rounds of peace talks, with the government and MILF panels negotiating on BBL provisions, the two parties sign the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which serves as the basis of the draft BBL.

The two panels signed annexes on transitional arrangements, wealth, power-sharing, and water territories.

April

The BTC submitted a partial draft of the proposed BBL to the Malacañang for review.

August

The second draft of the proposed BBL was submitted to Aquino for review.

September

Aquino handed Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte the draft proposal of the BBL. The House of Representatives created a "supercommittee" to tackle the bill, while the Senate conducted its first briefing on the proposal.

The BBL provided a basic structure of government focusing on the rights of the Bangsamoro people, described as "natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including Palawan."

The measure paves the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro, the successor to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) established in 1989 through Republic Act 6734.

It also delineates authority in the region by assigning jurisdiction for certain powers to either reserved powers for the Central government, exclusive powers for the Bangsamoro government, and concurrent powers for both the Central and the Bangsamoro governments.

Senator Bongbong Marcos, chair of the Senate committee on local government, criticized the bill for creating a sub-state, citing the Supreme Court decision on the MOA-AD.

2015

January 25

Forty-four members of the police Special Action Force were killed after an encounter with the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, despite a ceasefire. They were on a mission to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias "Marwan." At least 18 rebels and five civilians were also killed in the botched operation.

January 26

Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and JV Ejercito withdrew as co-authors of the BBL. Marcos also indefinitely suspended hearings on the BBL under his committee.

February 2

Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the House special committee on the BBL, said there will be no hearings until concerned agencies on the Mamasapano encounter submit their reports.

March 6

Leaders of the the Congress set a new deadline for the passage of the BBL: June 30, the end of the second regular session.

March 19

A survey by Pulse Asia showed that after the Mamasapano encounter, public disapproval of the BBL rose to 44 percent. The same survey "showed that disagreement with the bill was more evident in Mindanao at 62 percent," while public awareness of the BBL rose to 88 percent.

April 13

The Senate resumes its hearing on the BBL.

May 18

The House begins its two-day discussion on the 109-page BBL draft, which included 220 provisions. The hearings tackled which provisions should be included in the final draft, which will create a political unit to replace the ARMM.

May 20

With a 50-17 vote and one abstention, the House Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL approved the draft and the committee report of the proposed measure, which was then renamed as Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR).

May 25

Marcos in a hearing invited representatives of the sultanates and various indigenous people of Mindanao who were allegedly not consulted by the government when it created the proposed BBL with the MILF.

May 28

Representatives Lito Atienza, Michael Velarde Jr., and Irwin Teng filed criminal complaints of treason and sedition before Manila's Senior Deputy City Prosecutor Eufrosino Sulla against members of the government peace panel and the MILF, for allegedly selling out the country in order to cater to the interests of Bangsamoro rebels in crafting a flawed BBL.

June 5

Marcos hinted at sponsoring a substitute bill, saying he will start with the draft version of the BBL and remedy constitutional, administrative, and economic issues, among others.

June 11

Members of the House of Representatives set a new September deadline for the passage of the draft BBL, having failed to pass the bill before it adjourned for its break in June.

August 11

Marcos said 17 senators had signed the committee report on the substitute bill on the BBL, which was then renamed to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Law. He said 80 percent of the provisions had been amended, including creating more inclusivity in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

November 26

After the Congress missed its new September deadline on the passage of the BBL, the chief negotiators of the government and MILF peace panels urged the lawmakers not to lose more time.

December 8

Aquino met with lawmakers to discuss what will become of the BBL, as the measure was still pending at the House plenary for second reading since September due to difficulty in mustering a quorum, while it was still in the period of interpellation in the Senate.

The 16th Congress eventually failed to pass the BBL when it adjourned in February 2016.

2016

June 30

Rodrigo Duterte assumes office as the first Philippine president who hails from Mindanao. During his campaign, he promised to bring peace in the south through the passage of the BBL. He also pushed for a federal form of government.

August 12

Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza said he hopes a new version of the BBL can be crafted "as quickly as possible while our national government is working toward federalism."

August 16

The number of members of the BTC increased from 15 to 21, to include representatives from the indigenous people communities, local government, sultanates, and other groups in the talks.

2017

May 5

Duterte said he had lost optimism over peace negotiations with Moro rebels, as there are still conflicts between the MILF and the MNLF.

Some leaders of the MILF and the MNLF initially agreed to push for the passage of the BBL. But the MNLF later rejected it, saying there were complicated issues surrounding the proposed law.

June 8

Government of the Philippines Implementing Panel Chair for the Bangsamoro Irene Santiago said the final draft of the proposed BBL will be submitted to Duterte before his second State of the Nation Address on July 24.

July 17

Duterte received the final draft of the proposed BBL approved by the BTC.

July 19

Duterte met with MNLF founder and leader Nur Misuari to discuss the BBL and the shift to federalism.

September 5

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he plans to personally author a bill creating the BBL after the Malacañang sent its version of the bill.

November 27

Duterte said he would push for a special session in Congress in a bid to fast-track the BBL. Some senators, however, said not even a special session would be enough to pass the BBL before the yearend.

2018

January 16

The House of Representatives resumed its discussions on the proposed BBL. Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Wilter Palma II, who presided over the joint subcommittee hearing, said they replaced the term "territory" with "geographical area" to avoid constitutional questions.

January 19

Duterte said a bigger war in Mindanao may erupt if Moro rebel groups do not see any significant development in their fight for autonomy, which meant either the passage of the BBL or the shift to federalism.

January 25

Senators Miguel Zubiri, Sonny Angara, JV Ejercito, and Risa Hontiveros conducted the first public consultation in Mindanao on the proposed BBL, taking place in Cotabato City in Maguindanao.

February 9

Zubiri said the Senate is determined to pass the proposed law by March 22, to give a legal foundation for the creation of a new Bangsamoro region that will replace the ARMM.

February 11

Dureza said Duterte wants Congress to prioritize the passage of the BBL over the shift to a federal form of government. Critics have slammed this move, saying the BBL should happen ahead of charter change since setting up a new autonomous region requires amending the 1987 Constitution.

February 12

The Senate committee on public government resumes its public hearing on the proposed BBL.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/02/11/bangsamoro-basic-law-bbl-timeline.html