Draft BBL on its way to Congress
• 13:24 PM Mon Sep 8, 2014
964
By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
COTABATO CITY
(Sept. 8/NDBC) - The long road to peace in Mindanao restarts its journey on
Wednesday, September 10, when President Aquino personally hand over the draft
Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to Congress's leadersin an effort to show that genuine peace
and enduring stability in Mindanao is very special for him.
He will surely
do it before he leaves for Europe this week, House Speaker Jose Belmonte, said
in a nationwide radio interview Sunday, referring to the handover of the signed draft bill in Malacanang with House leaders.
President
Aquino is tentatively scheduled to embark on the five-nation official visit to
Europe and the US from September 13 to 24 to promote trade and bilateral
relations among European nations and attend the United Nations Climate Summit
2014 at the UN headquarters in New York City.
His last
foreign travel was Japan in June where he met briefly, for the second time,
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chieftain Al Mohammad Murad.
It was during
this time when Palace was in the thick of reviewing the draft BBL crafted by
the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC).
According to
Belmonte, with the President personally forwarding the draft to the House, in a ceremonial hand over at Malacanang Wednesday,he
is emphasizing the significance of the proposed measure.
The MILF had
been patiently waiting for the journey of the draft law to the legislature,
saying it is the most important part of the whole process, according to
Mohaqher Iqbal in a statement.
The BBL will
be the legal basis for the creation of the Bangsamoro political entity that
will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) President Aquino
described as a failed experiment.”
It is a first
priority legislation of both Houses of Congress, both the executive and the
legislative branches have said.
Belmonte said
House leaders have been expecting Malacanang had already thresh out the
constitutional issues hounding the draft that somehow delayed its journey from
Malacanang to Congress.
With the
constitutional issues and concern addressed, Belmonte sees the passage of the
bill by early 2015.
According to Presidential
Adviser on the Peace Process Sec. Teresita Deles, MILF panel Chair Mohagher
Iqbal, estimated that the draft bill is 99.99 percent done. Deles also
said that Aquino has already finished reviewing the draft BBL two weeks ago and
has exchanged notes with the MILF to further refine it.
Two weeks ago,
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa met with Iqbal in Davao City, a week after a
10-day comprehensive review” of the draft BBL by both the GPH and MILF peace
panels.
The Bangsamoro,
the people in the proposed new political territory, had been patiently waiting
for the D-Day.
As the process
nearing completion, both the government and the MILF had been religiously
observing the ceasefire agreement in Mindanao. (NDBC)