OPAPPand BBL as shield against radicalism

MANILA –
Describing it as an important pillar” and insurance against
independence,” government peace negotiators faced Senators on Tuesday to
explain the genuine intentions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law
(BBL) during a briefing at the Senate. I
think the importance of this bill and the law to be passed in this
government as an important pillar of the agenda has been made clear over
and over again,” presidential peace adviser Sec. Teresita Quintos Deles
told senators in a brief opening statement. In
his statement, Bangsamoro Transition Commission chair Mohagher Iqbal,
who is also the chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF), told senators that the eventual enactment of the Bangsamoro Law
will bring at least four major changes in Mindanao. The
BBL is expected to end the long-standing suffering of the Bangsamoro
people foster unity and harmony bring in economic development and
shield against rising radicalism” in the south, he said. The
Bangsamoro is our best insurance against independence. If the
Bangsamoro works to bring peace, development and security to the people,
then independence becomes less attractive. People will only leave a
relationship when they are treated badly. But if they are treated well,
there will be no reason to aspire to be independent,” Iqbal said. Iqbal,
who said that he has spent his life’s best years” fighting for the
Bangsamoro’s interests, said the armed rebellion in Mindanao should be
put to an end by giving back the political rights of the Bangsamoro
people to govern their own ancestral lands in Mindanao--the main purpose
of the BBL. He said that the passage of the bill will grant” the right of the people to live a happy and meaningful life.” Life
is meant to be lived in freedom and in pursuit of meaning and
significance. Instead, the conflict has caused our people to live in
fear and in want. Today, we have a singular opportunity to end
suffering, poverty, illiteracy, impunity and lawlessness. Let us work
hard to make this happen. Let peace be our lasting legacy,” he said. The
Philippine Senate under the Committee on Local Government chaired by
Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. begun the public hearing on the BBL – the
legal document that will operationalize the Comprehensive Agreement on
the Bangsamoro (CAB), which the government and the MILF signed last
March 27. The CAB is the product of both parties’ 17 years commitment in the southern peace negotiations. Marcos
acknowledged the bill’s importance, saying its success is not only
limited to those people in Mindanao but to the entire nation as well. He
said the public hearing on Tuesday is just the start and he intends to
carry out more public hearings on the ground in the next few weeks.
This is so important—the measure-- that I believe the discussion should
not be limited to those of us in the Senate or in the House of
Representatives or [those] directly involved in the drafting of this
bill. But I think the discussion should go out to the general populace
seeing that any result or success we garner here by passing this measure
will be of beneficial effect not only to ARMM (Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao), not only to the proposed Bangsamoro, but also all of
the Filipino populace.” he said. The eventual
passage of the BBL will give birth to the Bangsamoro region, replacing
the current ARMM. The proposed region will be run by a democratic
parliamentary-form of government with substantial powers on autonomy. Senator
Joseph Victor JV Ejercito described the signing of the CAB – a peace
agreement – and its draft bill as breakthroughs” in the southern peace
process. Although he admitted that some quarters have expressed
skeptical views on the BBL, he urged the public to study and be informed
about its content and help the lawmakers craft an all-inclusive law. In response, Deles said she fully understood the situation but those worries can be addressed through proper information. Most
of the fear coming out right now is based on lack of information on the
law,” she said, adding that we are undertaking massive information
dissemination to address this.” Her
statement was backed-up by Iqbal. Now that this (BBL) is already open,
it's now open for everybody to study its intrinsic value,” he said. Iqbal
said the genuine intention of the bill is to create a Bangsamoro region
that will not only liberate the Bangsamoro people from insecurity and
poverty” but will regain the marginalized Moro natives its political
rights to participate as real, active citizens of this country.” He
said this is the centrepiece of the Bangsamoro Bill in rechecking the
historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people for
centuries.