From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 27): Army sets up new checkpoints in Samar’s rebel-infested village
The Philippine Army’s 87th Infantry Battalion (87th IB) will
set up new checkpoints in Guirang village of this town to deter activities of
communist rebels.
Lt. Randy C. Alunday, assistant commander of the 87th IB
Alpha Company, said the new checkpoints is part of massive clearing operations
to prevent possible attacks during the upcoming Communist Party of the
Philippines – New People’s Army (NPA) 46th founding anniversary on March 29.
The checkpoint, according to Alunday, will complement patrol
operations conducted in the area purposely to hinder activities of the New
People’s Army.
“The bottom line of all of this is that we are doing
everything we can to provide for the best possible safety and security,” he
said.
New checkpoints will be manned by soldiers who are trained
in doing high-profile search techniques.
“They've done specific rehearsals to build them up over the
last few months and they understand all of the different scenarios, from the
highest threat level to the most rudimentary threat level, in order to provide
a safe environment,” Alunday explained.
Linda Pacaanas, chief of Mabini village, said the presence
of soldiers in the area has repelled insurgents and boosted their confidence in
their small village.
Mabinil village has been known as site for encounter between
government troops and rebels.
Soldiers conduct regular patrols in the area to prevent
enemy activity, and have also a standby troops ready to reinforce every time
there has been a threat to operating troops in the area.
“We want to do this in a balanced way so people feel safe.
This is to ensure that people with a more sinister intent don’t get to bring
something into the community,” he added.
From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 27): Peace groups in Davao call for permanent suspension of military offensive
Peace groups in Davao
held a silent rally on Friday to mark the first year anniversary of the signing
of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CAB) and urged government to suspend the
all-out offensive against the Bangsamoro Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao.
Lindee Prieto, convenor of the Initiatives for International
Dialogue and secretariat for the All-Out Peace, said the government must not
only suspend the all-out offensive to pave the way for the graduation of
students in the affected areas of Maguindanao but must consider a humanitarian
ceasefire permanently.
Prieto, who led the silent rally attended by Muslim and
non-Muslim communities on Friday, voiced concern of the increasing number of
civilians leaving homes for the evacuation centers.
She said the latest figures showed the number of
"bakwits" (evacuees) already reached over a hundred thousand people
particularly from the Bangsamoro core areas and Tiduray communities.
“We are here not only to commemorate the first year
anniversary of the peace agreement, but we are here to remember what we have
gone through…what we have gained after the signing,” Prieto said in an
interview.
Prieto voiced concern over the setbacks of the peace process
after the Mamasapano incident and the all-out offensive that already derailed
discussion of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
She said the BBL is already delayed although Congress
assured to reopen hearings in April.
She said there were reports that 20,000 internally displaced
persons have returned home after the military suspended the all-out offensive
against the BIFF.
However, she was worried that people are still leaving their
communities because of the level of insecurity in their area.
“We seek for the reassessment in the areas. Naghangyo mi sa
publiko (We are appealing the public) for humanitarian help,” Prieto said.
Yesterday, taxi operators joined the call for peace under
the campaign “Cabs for CAB”.
“We have the support of the operators after we have reached
out to them,” Prieto said, emphasizing that they are involving more groups to
join in calling to save the peace process. Taxi units have carried posters and
posted stickers on their units calling for peace in Mindanao.
From the Philippine Star (Mar 27): PNoy to give national address on Bangsamoro
President Benigno Aquino III will address the nation today as the country marks the anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
An advisory sent to Palace reporters said Aquino will address the nation on the CAB at 2 p.m.
The CAB is the final peace agreement signed between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in March 27, 2014, concluding the over 17 years of negotiations.
The peace pact resulted in the creation of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which will serve as the enabling law for the proposed political entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Aquino is expected to renew his call for the passage of the BBL after the Mamasapano incident put the Bangsamoro peace process in peril.
On January 25, Special Action Force troopers clashed with members of the MILF and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The encounter resulted in the death of 44 policemen, 18 rebels and five civilians.
From InterAksyon (Mar 27): AFP contests CA writ of habeas data but vows to protect rights lawyer, probe alleged threats
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is contesting a writ of
habeas data issued by the Court of Appeals on behalf of human rights lawyer
Maria Catherine Dannug-Salucon but said it will investigate her alleged
harassment by soldiers.
A statement from the AFP public affairs office also said
military units have also been ordered “to ensure the life, liberty and
security” of the Isabela-based Salucon “and her immediate family members.”
On March 12, the appellate court’s sixth
division granted Salucon’s petition for a writ of habeas data after she
alleged military and police personnel placed her under surveillance and harassed
her on several occasions in March last year after she handled the cases of
several persons accused of being New People’s Army members.
Aside from granting the writ, the CA also ordered the
military to produce for possible destruction all information, records,
photographs and dossiers related to their surveillance on the petitioner.
However, the court dismissed the cases against President
Benigno Aquino III, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and resigned Philippine
National Police chief Alan Purisima, who were named respondents in Salucon’s
petition.
The writ of habeas data is a remedy available to any person
whose right to privacy, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an
unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private
individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or
information about the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved
party.
The AFP said it had filed a motion for reconsideration,
through the Office of the Solicitor General, of the CA resolution granting the
writ of habeas data to Salucon.
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Mar 27): AFP on red alert for NPA anniversary
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will declare red alert starting Saturday in connection with the New People’s Army (NPA) anniversary.
“The AFP will declare red alert status starting 12 noon tomorrow March 28 up to 12 noon March 30. Troops will not be allowed to leave their duty stations during the duration of the red alert status,” Armed Forces public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said at a press briefing on Friday.
“The AFP is ready to perform its mandated tasks to protect the people against any armed threats including the NPA bandits who are normally launching attacks against government installations and people during their anniversary,” he said.
Cabunoc said they would take preemptive measures to thwart the communist rebels’ plans of mounting violent attacks.
From GMA News (Mar 27): DND: PHL to forego repair of Pag-asa Island airstrip
Defense Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin on Friday said the military would not push through with its
planned maintenance repair works on Pag-asaIsland, one of the Philippine territories China
is also claiming in the Spratlys.
In a chance
interview after an earthquake drill in MarikinaCity, Gazmin said the military could
not proceed with the repair of its facilities on Pag-asaIsland
including its eroding airstrip as doing so would require the construction of a
pier.
Only a day before, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the repair of the
airstrip would not violate the code of conduct among claimant-countries in the South China Sea.
“Repair and
maintenance, that’s okay with us. But before we bring in construction materials
there, we need to put up a pier to allow the entry of ships. So that will
totally change the landscape. That’s against the DOC,” Gazmin said.
Gazminwas
referring to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea
(DOC), a non-binding agreement signed by China
and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEN) which
includes the Philippines.
The agreement aimed to ease the tension between countries that have claims
over the mineral resources-rich SpratlyIslands.
Gazmin pointed
out that the landscape of Pag-asaIsland might be changed if the military
will put up a pier in order to accommodate the ships that would carry the
construction materials for the repair works. He said such move is in violation
of the DOC.
“We cannot repair
(our facilities) because the construction materials will be coming from the
outside,” Gazmin said.
Gazmin said it
was impractical and very expensive to use aircraft in transporting the
materials to the island.
“If it will be by
aircraft, it will be very very expensive and very impractical. So you have to
bring in the boat but the boat cannot come in because there is no pier,” Gazmin
said.
The Armed Forces
of the Philippines
has long planned to repair its facilities in Pag-asa, including its dilapidated
runway. The AFP, however, did not push through with its plan as the tensions
between the Philippines and China over the
disputed islands in Spratly escalated last year.
Pag-asais
one of the nine islands occupied by the Philippines
in the disputed chain of islands and islets in South China Sea or West Philippine Sea. These chain of islands and islets
are commonly referred as the SpratlyIslands.
The seat of
government of Kalayaan town in Palawan is situated on Pag-asaIsland.
Just on Thursday,
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said governmentcould actually
conduct repair worksin the islands it occupies in West
Philippine Sea as it is not covered by the DOC.
“I think the
violation of the DOC is in terms of massive reclamation and we have said that
maintenance and repair [are] not covered by the portion of the DOC which says
repair and maintenance [do] not raise tension,” Del Rosario said.
Under the DOC,
parties agreed “to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that
woul complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability including,
among others, refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited
islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features and to handle their
differences in a constructive manner”.
The agreement,
however, lacks the power to sanction states that will violate its provisions.
China and the ASEAN have yet to craft a code of conduct
on exploration in West Philippine Sea or South China Sea,
which is envisioned to be a legally-binding document.
It has been
earlier reported that China
is conducting massive reclamation works in several islands in the disputed
territory.
Aside from China and the Philippines,
other countries who have claims over Spratlys are Vietnam,
Malaysia, and Brunei.
NDF/KM propaganda statement posted to the CPP Website (Mar 26): KM calls on Filipino youth to rise up against discredited US-Aquino regime
NDFP National Democratic Front of the Philippines
By Ma. LAYA GUERRERO Spokesperson, Kabataang Makabayan
The Kabataang Makabayan (KM, Patriotic Youth) held a lightning protest rally today, together with other allied revolutionary organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), in celebration of the 46th anniversary of the New People’s Army on 29 March 2015.
KM also resonates the call for the Filipino youth and people to rise up against the anti-people, corrupt and rotten system presided over by the US-Aquino regime.
The current debacle over the Mamasapano incident could not anymore be escaped by the US puppet regime of Aquino, despite the chain of lies and public deception it employs in order to escape direct accountability. Aquino has been exposed, and he is hell-bent on swaying public opinion by employing cheap propaganda tricks like showbiz personalities and pathetic appeals to emotion, even as he scampers to issue one presidential speech after another that cannot in any way assuage the people’s disgust and hatred.
The Mamasapano operation was planned and pushed by the US to Aquino and his ilk in its so-called ‘war on terror’. Aquino surrendered our national sovereignty to the US, violated his chain of command in favor of personal friendship and allegiance, mounted the death-bound operation that included civilians, and showed flagrant arrogance in attacking the areas controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has a ceasefire agreement with the Aquino regime.
In the midst of public clamor for accountability and justice, the Aquino regime has instead opted for political vindictiveness by launching an all-out war in Mindanao that has now displaced hundreds of thousands. The traumatized communities who massively fled their homes and livelihood now suffer the same plight suffered by those displaced by Aquino’s all-out military offensives in Zamboanga.
The KM calls on the Filipino youth to rise and join the peoples mounting protests against the corrupt, incorrigible mendacious, fascist, puppet and anti-people US-Aquino regime. Millions of Filipino youth are out of school and unemployed. The few who could study suffer ever-rising tuition and other fees and bear the brunt because of the US-Aquino government’s failure to deliver education and other social services as a right of the people. There is no real hope for the Filipino youth and people in this rotten system dominated by ruling classes of big compradors and landlords like Aquino and maintained by their US imperialist master.
Together with the people, the Filipino youth must stand and build the strong ouster movement against the rotten semifeudal and semicolonial system maintained and represented by the Aquino regime. The Filipino youth, armed with vigor, energy, skills and talent should selflessly offer its best years in service to the people and for genuine revolutionary change. The Communist Party of the Philippines lead millions of the revolutionary people in building the people’s government in the countryside and thousands of revolutionary base communities, conducts agrarian revolution and leads economic, cultural, political programs that genuinely benefit the people.
In the countryside, more and more youth join the New People’s Army, the genuine people’s army that launches sure blows against the fascist armed machinery of this rotten system. KM calls on the Filipino youth to rise up and join the ever growing people’s army that will crush this rotten system!
Long live the 46th Anniversary of the New People’s Army! Long live the CPP-NPA-NDFP!
Filipino youth, serve the people!
Go to the countryside, join the New People’s Army!
Overthrow the rotten system and rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism!
From ABS-CBN (Mar 27): Suspected BIFF tunnel discovered in Maguindanao
MAGUINDANAO - Government troops have discovered a tunnel allegedly used by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) near the boundary of Barangays Meta and Iginagampong in the town of Datu Unsay in Maguindanao Thursday.
Soldiers accidentally discovered the tunnel while on foot patrol in the area after one of them slipped and landed on the tunnel. It is located 10 feet below the road, and is hidden behind trees and grass.
The tunnel is about 20 meters long and previously functioned as a water channel.
It is also located near the Army detachment in the area.
"Maraming instance na kasi na may naglagay [ng] IED malapit dito, target yung brigade commander ng Mechanized...tapos nagkahabulan din noon sa mga armado hindi sila napansin nawala kaagad mabilis masyado. So possible ito ang ginagamit nila paakyat rin ng hill 224 mga 200 meters kasi paakyat dyan hill 224 na. Nung makita rin ito may mga balot pa ng pastil," said Lt. Col. Gerry Cap-atan, commander of the Provisional Battalion of the 6th Infantry Division.
From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 27): Troopers pursuing attackers of Agusan Del Norte governor
Troopers of the 4th Infantry Division are now conducting
pursuit operations against the New People's Army (NPA) band who attacked the
convoy of Agusan Del Norte Gov. Maria Angelica Rosedell Amante-Matba Thursday
afternoon.
The attack took place at 11: 20 a.m. in the vicinity of
Sitio Mimbahandi, Barangay Camagong, Nasipit town, 4th Infantry Division deputy
spokesperson Capt. Joe Patrick A. Martinez said.
He added that the attacking rebels were from the NPA's
Guerilla Front 4-A.
Martinez
said Matba's party had just came from a turnover ceremony of a school building
when fired upon.
Escorting police officers and troopers from the 29th
Infantry Battalion managed to return fire and drive away the rebel group.
In the issuing firefight, a police officer was wounded and
now undergoing treatment at the ButuanCityHospital.
Martinez
said Matba's party was not injured in the attack.
Posted to ABS-CBN (Mar 27): Photo: Filipino fishermen rescued by US Navy
Sailors attached to the U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) rescue five stranded Filipino nationals in this photo taken on March 25, 2015. The Filipinos were taken on board and underwent medical check-up. The Blue Ridge is currently on patrol within the Indo-Asian Pacific region.
From the Manila Standard Today: Photo: Commemoration
Japanese soldiers played by Talisay City College students take cover from an explosion to commemorate the arrival of American forces on the shores of Talisay 70 years ago to liberate the Philippines during World War II. http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/03/27/commemoration-4/
From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 27): Military scores NPA abandonment of rebel corpse in Compostela Valley
The Eastern Mindanao Command on Friday condemned the New
People's Army (NPA) for abandoning the corpse of a slain rebel at the heavily
forested section of Sitio Totoy, Barangay San Jose, Monkayo town, CompostelaValley.
The still unidentified body was discovered 8: 30 a.m. by
patrolling troopers on March 25.
Eastern Mindanao Command spokesperson Col.Romeo Brawner
believed that the slain rebel was killed during the March 24 encounter with the
25th Infantry Battalion and abandoned on the same day when it proved difficult
to transport him.
The corpse was turned over to the local government unit for
proper disposition.
Eastern Mindanao Command head Lt. Gen. Aurelio Baladad
slammed the bandits' disregard for the dignity of human life as well as the
sanctity of death.
"This is how they treat and exploit their own people.
They don’t have any concern for a wounded fellow and just let him die. The same
thing happened when the NPA bandits left their vice commander to die during
their failed attack in Mati, Davao Oriental last month," he added.
"We are calling on our deceived brothers who are still
with the New People's Army for them to lay down their arms and live peaceful
and meaningful lives," Baladad concluded.
From the Manila Standard Today (Mar 27): War drums beating, but AFP says it’s prepared
The military
is adhering to the line of the government’s road to peace with
rebel groups, but said that in case peace talks bogs down, it is ready to
eliminate armed resistance.
Lieutenant
Colonel Harold Cabunoc, Public Affairs Office chief of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines,
said of military brass: “I believe they are fully committed to the peace
process and that they wouldn’t allow the hawks in their ranks to push them back
toward the days when their option was the use of violence. ”
On Wednesday,
MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar laid down their
options and possible scenarios if Congress shoots down the draft
Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Ghadzali
said one option is for them to elevate their redress to the United Nations.
Another is the possibility that their men go back to war against the government.
Jaafar also feared their units may break away from the MILF and join the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
MILF chairman Al
Haj Murad and chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they could not accept a
“watered-down” BBL.
But lawmakers,
legal luminaries and constitutionalists saw dangers in the BBL if passed
in its present form: Some of its provisions are unconstitutional, and
endanger national security.
In 2008, the MILF
split into two after the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)
was junked by the Supreme Court because the magistrates said the
agreement was unconstitutional. This prompted some commanders of the MILF to
launch attacks not only against government forces but also civilian
communities.
The BIFF faction
emerged after the MILF leadership expelled one of its commanders, Ameril Umbra
Kato, for not supporting the resumption of the peace talks with the government.
The faction turned “spoiler of peace” by launching violent activities in some
parts of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
“The AFP
maintains a credible deterrence to any armed threats all over the country,”
Cabunoc said, reiterating the preparedness of the Armed Forces in case war
erupts again if the BBL is rejected.
From the Manila Standard Today (Mar 27): ‘China alone in claims to sea’
NO nation in the world recognizes China’s nine-dash claim in the South China Sea and the weakness of its legal base is the reason Beijing is undertaking massive reclamation in disputed waters, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
“It reaffirms the belief that no country in the world recognizes that the nine-dash line is a valid claim on the part of China,” Del Rosario said at a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
Right is might. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario answers questions during a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines in Manila where he stressed that no country in the world recognizes China’s claim in the South China and West Philippine Seas. AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELISDel Rosario accused China of accelerating its expansionist agenda by changing the size, structure and physical attributes of land features in the South China Sea and have even rammed Filipino vessels in the West Philippine Sea, endangering the lives of fishermen.
“China is aware it has to engage in a battle of public opinion and shape the narrative in its favor given the weak legal case it is standing on,” Del Rosario said, adding that the Philippines chose to pursue international arbitration “to preserve a valued friendship” with China.
The DFA chief highlighted the international community’s significant support for the Philippines’ advocacy for a peaceful and rules-based settlement of disputes in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law.
Del Rosario welcomed the growing international support after United States Senators John McCain, Bob Corker, Jack Reed and Bob Menendez warned that China’s land reclamation and construction in the region could be considered “a direct challenge, not only to the interests of the United States and the region, but to the entire international community.”
Del Rosario described the US lawmakers view as very helpful, saying it brings into focus with the international community the differences in terms of what is being said and what is happening on the ground.
“We welcome the statements made and we also welcome the call for a more substantive support and focus on the Asia rebalance strategy of the United States,” he added.
Del Rosario said a comprehensive US strategy on Chinese reclamation would likewise add an important voice to Manila’s arbitration case against China.
The Philippines likewise welcomed the Vietnam’s and Indonesia’s stand against China’s continue expansionism in the south China, adding describing it as helpful in terms of promoting the rule of law and in finding peaceful and nonviolent solutions to the South China Sea claims.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has earlier announced that part of China’s claims to almost the entire the South China Sea has no legal basis.
“The ‘nine-dash line’ that China says marks its maritime border has no basis in any international law,” Jokowi said.
Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Bin said his government told the Permanent Court of Arbitration that Vietnam fully rejected “China’s claim over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes and the adjacent waters.”
China claimed sovereignty over 90% of the water and all the islands in the South China Sea by drawing a nine-dash line covering 90% of that sea, prompting her neighbors to protest that her claim contradicts international law, specifically the 1982 UNCLOS.
“Even as the Philippines filed arbitral proceedings under Article 287 of UNCLOS, however, China continues to undertake unilateral measures that form part of a pattern of forcing a change in the regional status quo in order to advance and realize its ‘nine-dash line’ claim of undisputed sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea,” Del Rosario said.
“As the arbitration case proceeds, everyone should have a deep appreciation of the case, in the context of our policy on the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
China backs the level of the resources it has poured on consolidating its presence in the South China Sea with an aggressive public diplomacy campaign, in its domestic public, the region and international community, and – as some of you may have noticed -- even in the Philippine public.
He said China is aware that it has to engage in the battle of public opinion and shape the narrative in its favor given the weak legal base that its claims are standing on.
“That said, it is my hope that all Filipinos can work together with us in standing behind our country’s position,” Del Rosario said.
“Ours is a principled position. The challenge, therefore, is to continue communicating effectively and efficiently our principled position on the West Philippine Sea issue. Even as we face a formidable challenge, we have the law on our side. International law is the great equalizer,” he said.
Del Rosario expressed confidence that doing the right thing will help the Philippines get what it think is right.
“We are, moreover, in the right. And right is might, ” Del Rosario concluded.
From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 27): Alleged GPH funds for MILF old news, false
Allegations that the government is providing the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) funds through the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program
and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission is old news and have been proven to be
false, the head of the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos and government
peace panel member said Friday.
"We don't know where critics are getting all the
information that they have been announcing to the media, but we can certainly
ask the implementing agencies of Sajahatra Bangsamoro and of course the
Bangsamoro Transition Commission to send them the financial reports that were
submitted to the Commission on Audit if they want. All they have to do is
ask," said NCMF chair Bai Yasmin Busran – Lao in reaction to a radio
interview that alleged that the government is giving funds directly to the MILF
through the BTC and Sajahatra Bangsamoro.
The NCMF Secretary explained that Sajahatra Bangsamoro is a
program implemented by government agencies that provide services and other
development projects for communities in Muslim Mindanao.The BTC, on the other
hand, is a government agency created by President Aquino that is under the
Office of the President and remains subject to regular government accounting
rules and COA audit.
Government peace panel member Senen Bacani said the
Php100-million operational expenses of the BTC, as provided in the EO during
the body's first year, are subjected to regular government accounting and
auditing procedures since the body is under the Office of the President.
“In fact, we learned that the BTC even returned funds that
were not used to the National Treasury. If there are doubts, the Commission on
Audit is there to give us its audit report,” he said.
On the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program, Bacani said that its
main goal is to provide short-term quick impact projects to the
economically-deprived communities and other targeted beneficiaries in Mindanao.
“The implementation and funding of the Sajahatra program are
all under the existing budget of these government agencies such as the
departments of Agriculture, Social Welfare, Health, Public Works and Highways,
among others,” Bacani said.
As to the future creation and funding of the BTA, Bacani
said that lawmakers can ensure transparency in its financial transactions since
the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is still in their hands for scrutiny. The
draft BBL provides for the creation of the BTA to oversee the transition of the
existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the future Bangsamoro
region.
