OPAPP announces new members of expanded BTC

MANILA -- The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) on Friday announced the new members of the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC)—a body that will draft the new Bangsamoro enabling law.The crafting of the law is part of the implementation process of the southern peace pact or the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in March 2014. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has just released the appointment papers of the 21-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission. This will signal the start of the work to come up with an inclusive Bangsamoro law that will truly reflect and address the clamor for a genuine political autonomy for the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao, Secretary Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process, said.The creation of the expanded BTC from 15 to 21 was made after President Duterte signed an Executive Order (EO) No. 8 on November 7.The EO was one of the agreements reached during the August meeting between the implementing panels of the government and the MILF, where they discussed the new Peace and Development Roadmap for the implementation of the signed peace agreements.Under the EO, the consultative body will be chaired by the MILF with 11 members, while the government nominates 10 members, including three members from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).The new members of the expanded BTC are Atty. Jose I. Lorena, Atty. Maisara Dandamun-Latiph, Samira Gutoc-Tomawis, Datu Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan, Dr. Susana Salvador-Anayatin, Atty. Hussin Amin, Romeo Saliga, Hatimil Hassan, Atty. Firdausi Ismail Y. Abbas, Atty. Omar Yasser C. Sema Ghadzali JaafarMohagher M. Iqbal Abdulraof Abdul Macacua, Ibrahim d. Ali and Haron M. Abas.Atty. Raissa H. Jajurie Said M. Shiek Hussein P. Muñoz Melanio U. Ulama Gafur A. Kanain Ammal D. Solaiman, J.D.Irene Inday M. Santiago, the chair of the Government Panel Implementing the Bangsamoro Accords, said the members were chosen because of their capacity to listen and their extensive knowledge in Mindanao. It is expected that the new members of the BTC will hit the ground running. Their role is vital for us to reach a CAB-compliant enabling law, she said.The government has set a deadline for the BTC to submit the draft to Congress by July for deliberations and ratification.Earlier, Secretary Dureza said the old Bangsamoro Basic Law, which failed to be enacted as a law last Congress, will probably be the basic document, among other pertinent legislations, of the new enabling law. (PNA)