Politicians cautioned against use of BOL to malign one another

COTABATO CITY - Peace activists have called on politicians campaigning for or against the Bangsamoro Organic Law to refrain from discourses that can derail the delicate southern peace process.The issue is now an irritant among rival political quarters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and in towns outside where the January 21 plebiscite for the ratification of the BOL is to be held.Some are attacking adversaries for supporting what is for them a measure that they assert cannot never address the now 50-year southern Moro secessionist problem.There are others who talk about BOL’s being unconstitutional and its being an affront to the September 2, 1996 final peace agreement between Malacañang and the Moro National Liberation Front.Hundreds of fictitious Facebook accounts have surfaced in recent weeks, flooded with daily posts either campaigning for or questioning the constitutionality of the BOL.The BOL, or Republic Act 11054, is a product of a 20-year negotiation between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.The law was premised on two compacts forged by both sides, the 2012 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and, subsequently, the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.The incoming presidential peace adviser, Carlito Galvez, Jr., who was here Wednesday, urged rival political groups to avoid using the BOL as talking points for maligning one another. Let us avoid dragging the peace process, the BOL per se, into undue political forays because one of its main objectives is to unite Mindanao’s Muslim, Christian and Lumad sectors for them to thrive together in peace, Galvez said.Galvez was one of the dignitaries who graced Wednesday’s ulat sa bayan of the now outgoing ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.Hataman reported his administration’s accomplishments in the past six years in his ulat sa bayan, attended by no fewer than 3,000 local officials, barangay leaders and peace activists from across the autonomous region.In his ulat sa bayan, Hataman asked for forgiveness from opposition politicians he may have offended in campaign speeches during the 2013 and 2016 ARMM gubernatorial elections before asking constituents to vote in favor of the BOL during the January 21 plebiscite.Once ratified, the BOL will pave the way for the replacement of ARMM with an MILF-led Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM.A senior MILF official, Muhaquer Iqbal, member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, urged voters in the proposed BARMM territory to ignore the attacks on the propriety of the BOL and ask for clarifications from competent people when in doubt.Hataman, a staunch supporter of the peace process between the government and the MILF, said it is the whole country, not just Mindanao that would benefit from a lasting peace that the BOL can usher in through the self-governing, more empowered BARMM.An incumbent councilor in Cotabato City, Bruce Matabalao, said sectors with opposing positions on the BOL should let voters exercise their right of suffrage freely during the January 21 plebiscite. Respect for each other is so important in peace-building. Let us not fight. If you are for a `yes vote,’ go for it. If you are for a `no vote,’ that is your choice and no one must harm you for having that conviction, said Matabalo, also a supporter of the southern Mindanao peace process.Besides Hataman and Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, among those actively endorsing the BOL are Mindanao’s top Catholic parochial leader, Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, and a Christian local executive, Lamitan City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay.Furigay, who also attended Hataman’s ulat sa bayan here Wednesday, said anti-BOL groups in Lamitan City, the new capital of Basilan, can freely move around to explain to residents why they are against the law.