Congress asked to scrutinize BBL with peace, justice and development in mind

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – Leaders of various faiths and denominations in the Lanao provinces have asked Congress to consider the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) fully mindful of the interests of peace, justice and development in Mindanao.

“Given its utmost significance to our lives, we ask that you provide the draft BBL a reasoned legislative scrutiny,” read the religious leaders’ open letter to members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“We expect you to pass judgment on the BBL with a sense of political justness, and in the spirit of righting historical wrongs,” they added.

The open letter-cum-manifesto was forged during Wednesday’s Interfaith Leaders’ Peace Summit here attended by 170 religious and community leaders in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur coming from the Muslim, Catholic and Evangelical Christian faiths.

It was signed by, among others, Catholic Bishop Edwin dela Peña of the Prelature of St. Mary in Marawi City; United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Bishop Stephen Villaester, also the chair of the local Interfaith Council for Peace; and local Muslim leader Ustadz Abdul Karim Ambor.

Advocates have cranked up efforts to persuade Congress to provide favorable treatment to the BBL, with the hope that it would be legislated before the lawmakers take a break on June 11.

On Monday, May 11, the 75-member House ad hoc committee on the BBL chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez is expected to begin voting on every provision of the proposed measure.

As drafted, the BBL consists of some 244 sections contained in 18 articles.

If passed at the committee level, the measure is expected to be elevated to the House plenary by May 18.

The respective leaderships of the House and the Senate have committed to have the BBL passed soonest.

The BBL seeks to establish a new autonomous entity named Bangsamoro that will replace, and will have far greater powers than the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

When enacted and eventually ratified by voters in the affected localities, it is expected to carry out a big portion of the political consensus between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was forged throughout 17 years of peace negotiations.

Based on the agreement of the parties, the setup of the Bangsamoro government will pave the way for the decommissioning of about 30 percent of the MILF’s armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF). The rest will be decommissioned based on the accomplishment of major political milestones defined in the agreed peace roadmap.

“The crucial stage of the peace process currently rests with you, our dear legislators,” the Lanao religious leaders reminded members of Congress.

“Among us involved in accompanying the GPH (Government of the Philippines)-MILF peace process, seeing a closure to the Moro rebellion within our lifetimes is a very rewarding and heartening prospect. We, the peoples of Mindanao who are of varying faiths and ethnicities — having borne the ill-effects of war — deserve no less,” they emphasized.

Historically, Moro autonomy has been used by government to calm down the secessionist stirrings among the Muslim population in Mindanao. Since it was started in 1977, it has undergone two re-design efforts; the first in 1989 through Republic Act No. 6734, and the second in 2001 through Republic Act No. 9054.

The BBL will be the third attempt at a re-design.

But the Lanao religious leaders said “the remake of the autonomy” today has been so designed as to provide the basic elements that “ensure that the institution lives up to the self-governance aspiration of the Moro people, hence, address the root cause of the four-decade rebellion in Mindanao.”

They said the BBL has been designed not only based on the consensus reached between the Philippine government and the MILF but also “by the inputs from grassroots communities and peoples gathered through massive public consultations in Mindanao done in partnership with the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and civil society organizations.”

“We count on the 16th Congress to make peace and sustainable development in Mindanao its lasting legacy for the Filipino people,” the religious leaders appealed. SFM/AC