Friends of Peace on Bangsamoro billand Our moment of grace

QUEZON CITY - With the Philippines' 16thCongress on recess starting Thursday, the peace advocates in Mindanao remained hopeful the draft bill that will create a new political entity in Southern Philippines will still hurdle legislative process in the coming months.Friends of Peace (FOP), an umbrella organization of peace advocates in Mindanao and other parts of the country, is hoping the legislature would come up with a draft law that is acceptable to all concerned in Mindanao and the country.Led by his Eminence Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, archbishop of Cotabato, the FOP issued a statement reminding the country's lawmakers of the importance of the law that will answer historical injustices and bring about peace anddevelopment in conflict affected Muslim communities in Mindanao. Our legislators are in the enviable position to crown 17 years of peacemaking with the approval of a Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that respects the Bangsamoro’s right to self-determination, the POF signed in a statement entitled Our moment of grace. Both the Senate and the House adjourned Thursday and will resume session on July 27. At the House, lawmakers are debatingHouse Bill 5811 or the draft Basic Law for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BLBAR). Interpellation of the remaining 28 lawmakers is expected to resume next month.At the Senate, Sen. Ferdinand Bong Bong Marcos Jr, chair of the committee on local government, said he will file a new bill when Senate session resumes.POF remained hopeful that Congress, in exercising its legislative power would help improve the draft Bangsamoro law instead of diluting it or making it less powerful than the current Republic Act 9054 or theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). If, after the Congress has exercised its legislative powers to improve the BBL, there are still provisions on which sufficient consensus cannot be reached, it is suggested that those provisions be left to the Supreme Court in the exercise of its power of judicial review, the FOP said.It addedand In the delicate system of checks and balances and separation of powers, it is the Supreme Court that is the final arbiter on the interpretation of the Constitution. But, while the Supreme Court can delete provisions it deems unconstitutional, it cannot add what the Congress has deleted from the proposed organic act, which is substantially based on the agreement signed by the Executive after years of negotiations and legal reviews that, we believe, may be accorded the presumption of regularity. Below is the complete FOP statement issued on June 10.OUR MOMENT OF GRACE (Friends of Peace Statement) We are at a unique moment in our history as a Filipino nation.A moment that demands courageous statesmanship on the part of our legislators and the generosity of spirit of a united Filipino nation – to overcome the prejudices of ages that stand in the way of our humanity, to heal the wounds of war, to restore broken relationships, and to undertake people- centered development based on social justice.Our legislators are in the enviable position to crown 17 years of peacemaking with the approval of a Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that respects the Bangsamoro’s right to self-determination.The proposed law that would pave the way for the creation of a new autonomous political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is only the first step in the fulfillment of the promise of our Philippine Constitution. But it is a necessary first step.The Constitution mandates Congress to pass what it calls an Organic Act (Article X, Section 18) that would give the Bangsamoro more powers with less government intervention through an autonomy that is different from other local government units. And the Constitution says that such an organic law shall be effective when approved by a majority of the votes cast by the constituent units.”If, after the Congress has exercised its legislative powers to improve the BBL, there are still provisions on which sufficient consensus cannot be reached, it is suggested that those provisions be left to the Supreme Court in the exercise of its power of judicial review. In the delicate system of checks and balances and separation of powers, it is the Supreme Court that is the final arbiter on the interpretation of the Constitution. But, while the Supreme Court can delete provisions it deems unconstitutional, it cannot add what the Congress has deleted from the proposed organic act, which is substantially based on the agreement signed by the Executive after years of negotiations and legal reviews that, we believe, may be accorded the presumption of regularity.Moreover, removing powers from the BBL that were already given to the ARMM under RA 9054 would be a backward step and construed as bad faith on the part of the government. And the call by some legislators that certain injustices and deaths from decades of strife be first resolved or that the interests of all affected parties be incorporated in the law may be premature. The organic law is not the end of the peace process. It is only the beginningand Peace agreements by themselves do not change anything. Peace agreements often arrive into a situation of great distrust and skepticism – of the parties of each other, and of other citizens of the parties and even of the peace process itself....” ...What a peace agreement provides is an opportunity to enlarge the space for political debate and for greater political participation and to enlarge the space for greater equitable socio-economic participation, and more effective governance.” For the first time, we have leadership on both sides of the peace process who trust each other, are committed to peace, justice and the kind of human development badly needed by our country. The peoples of Muslim Mindanao have given up their decades-long dream of independence to join the rest of the nation in what we are told is the longest journey in any struggle for a new social order – the journey from the mind to the heart.To finally be part of a united Filipino nation.?This is our historic moment of grace. Let us not squander it. CONVENORS Orlando B. Cardinal Quevedo, OMI (Lead Convenor) Christian S. Monsod Santanina T. Rasul Amina Rasul- Bernardo Guiamel Alim Mary Ann Arnado Datu Haron Bandila Patricio Diaz Rufa Cagoco- Guiam Vicente Lao Roberto Layson Gus Miclat Arnold Maria Noel Ramon Piang Sr Rudy Rodil Andrea Maria Patricia Sarenas Joel Tabora Samira Gutoc- Tomawis.