Pro-BBL groups unfazed by poll

Despite a recent nationwide Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey that showed that only 23 percent of Filipinos approved of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the groups supporting the measure remain unfazed.

To commemorate Global Day of Citizen Action on Saturday, Code-NGO, a coalition of about 2,000 civil society groups nationwide, continued to call for the passage of the BBL at an event at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

The pro-BBL advocates chanted while marching around the park, held a program at the Peace Bell, and distributed informational flyers and booklets of the draft BBL.

In an interview, Code-NGO chair Andrea Maria Patricia Sarenas said the SWS survey, conducted in early March, was done in the aftermath of the Mamasapano massacre in January in which 44 police commandos were killed by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters rebels (BIFF).

“We need to understand that the Mamasapano [incident] resurfaced many deep-seated biases and prejudices,” Sarenas said. “[The survey] affirms what we have said all along: the biases and prejudices are so deepseated, and we have to work on that.”

Sarenas said the Mamasapano incident was still undergoing investigation, and should be taken separately from the more “far-reaching discussion” on the BBL.