Iqbaland Draft BBL should be made public
Breaking News • 14:44 PM Mon Sep 8, 2014
1,156
By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
(Photo courtesy luwaran)
COTABATO CITY (Sept.
8/NDBC) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) today said the draft
Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), to be certified urgent by President Aquino, should
be made public for healthy and educational scrutiny by the people.
If reaches
Congress, it becomes a pubic document and I am in favour of making it
accessible to the public for transparency,” Mohaqher Iqbal, MILF chief
negotiator told DXMS Radyo Bida Monday morning.
This is for
healthy and educational discussions,” Iqbal, also chair of the Bangsamoro
Transition Commission (BTC) that crafted the BBL, added.
While the MILF
is still uncertain the draft reaches Congress as reported, Iqbal said the MILF
relies on the wisdom of Malacanang and the legislators.
We remain
hopeful but we are not certain as of yet until it happens (draft bill in the
hands of Congress),” he said.
Maraming obstacles
along the way, but we remain optimistic. We rely on the wisdom of our
lawmakers, I am convinced it will survive Congress,” Iqbal said.
President
Aquino will personally hand over the draft to House leaders in a ceremony to be
held in Malacanang Wednesday, according to House Speaker Jose Belmonte.
He will
surely do it before he leaves for Europe this week,” House Speaker Jose
Belmonte, said in a nationwide radio interview Sunday.
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.
Iqbal also
said his peace panel is ready to ready to sit down with Congress to defend the
draft bill.
I am
convinced Congress will passthe draft BBL, Iqbal said. The draft bill was
refined for good, I believed,” he said of the Malacanang-reviewed draft law.
He said the
MILF will patiently wait for the draft law to reach Congress even as he
appealed for everyone to support the process.
My appeal is
for everybody to support the draft BBL, this is a formula for peace and
development in Mindanao, for Muslims, Christians and highlanders,” the visibly
optimistic Iqbal said.
If you see
for yourself the draft BBL, it’s amazing.
This is not about independence, it’s about peace and development,” Iqbal
said. (NDBC)