Restlessness of MILF members turns to hope after BOL passage – Zubiri 

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri speaks at the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. (Photo by CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net)

The fear that the “restlessness” of some members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) could lead to a new war has turned into hope after the signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said on Tuesday.

“There were members of the MILF that were very restless,” Zubiri said at the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum held in Makati.

“Feeling nila ang pangako napako. [Noong] 2104 pa nila hinihingi ito; 2018 na ngayon. Parang binobola lang sila ng gobyerno,” he added.

[The felt it was broken promise. They have been waiting for this since 2014. It’s already 2018. So it appears the government was just leading them on.]

Zubiri, chairman of the Senate subcommittee that tackled the Bangsamoro bill, revealed that MILF leaders were worried because of the non-passage of the BOL.

“I guess they were worried that there was restlessness [among some MILF members]. The keyword there is restlessness. Now it’s hope. They are hopeful, they are very hopeful,” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the BOL last July 26.

The law will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARRM) with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and is perceived to bring economic growth in the conflict-stricken region.

READ: Duterte signs Bangsamoro Organic Law

With the passage of the law, Zubiri said: “Everybody is hopeful on the ground.”

“That is the feedback that we have gotten, sumisigaw sila, ‘Allahu Akbar’ [God is great]. They were happy. They were in tears,” he said.

But despite the jubilation of many, the senator said there were individuals who would try to spoil the implementation of the BOL.

“Unfortunately, there are those who will try to spoil the peace process. There are those who don’t belive in our goals of unity with the Bangsamoro people and they will try to spoil it and we expect this,” he said.

“We want our people to be steadfast together with the Bangsamoro people,” he added. /atm