Senator Joel Villanueva. PHOTO FROM JOEL VILLANUEVA FACEBOOK PAGE
The congressional bicameral conference committee has agreed to adopt a provision that would allow the promotion of freedom of religion in the proposed Bangsamoro government, Senator Joel Villanueva said on Tuesday.
Villanueva, member of the Senate contingent in the bicam, said the panels from the Senate and House of Representatives in the bicam “agreed to adopt” the provision that he proposed.
The provision “stipulating the promotion of religious freedom by the Bangsamoro government,” he said, was contained in the Senate version of BBL but not in the House version.
The senator underscored the importance of the provision as “religion plays a big role in shaping the beliefs, backgrounds, and acts of the people living in the area.”
“This is not to mention the fact that the region is multicultural. We have Islam, Christianity, and the dozens of indigenous beliefs in the area,” he said in a statement.
Villanueva said the exercise of freedom of religion must also extend to establishments.
“Apart from the mandate protecting people persecuted on account of religion, we also want to ensure that the free exercise extends to establishments that wish to express a certain faith, subject to the rights, privileges, and restrictions granted by law,” he added.
During the bicameral conference, the senator pushed for the full guarantee and exposition of religious belief and creed in the Bangsamoro territory regardless of denomination, membership or affiliation.
The Bangsamoro people, he said, should be protected from harassment or any undue pressure, coercion and violence on account of religion.
“We need to be mindful of the fact that people are harassed or subjected to violence because of their choice of beliefs in certain areas of the country,” Villanueva said.
“Given my concerns, what is the strongest guarantee we can extract from the regional government that it will be proactive in protecting this freedom?” asked the senator.
Congress is expected to ratify its final version of the BBL when it opens the third and last regular session of the 17th Congress on July 23. Carol Balita / INQUIRER.net intern / jpv
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