Malacañang Palace as seen from across the Pasig River (Photo from malacanang.gov.ph)
MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) sparked a “ray of hope” for people in Mindanao, the “promised land of the fifties.”
“The sovereign voice of the participating voters in the just concluded plebiscite has spoken, ushering a ray of hope to that war-weary, poverty-stricken, long neglected and much heralded promised land of the fifties,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement late Saturday.
“The Bangsamoro Organic Law has been officially ratified, it behooves the discordant voices to yield to the rule of the majority,” he added.
The Commission on Elections announced on Friday that the BOL was “deemed ratified” after getting more than 1.5 million favorable votes.
With the ratification of the BOL, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao will be replaced by the BARMM.
A total of 198,750 voted against the decree that would establish the BARMM or the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
READ: Yes votes have it; law creating Bangsamoro region ratified
According to Panelo, the people in Mindanao underwent a lot of hardships in attaining peace.
“The quest to lasting peace in that region saw not only the bloody encounters among the Muslim combatants but spawned more conflicts as well, giving birth to more armed groups and violent hostilities to the sufferance of the Bangsamoro people and the Christian inhabitants,” he said.
“To the credit of the Muslim warriors, they made way to another thrust for the elusive peace as they participated in a democratic process weighing in their collective voice,” Panelo added.
“The President hopes that the ratification of the BOL will commence the process of correcting the historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people,” Panelo continued.
Panelo then urged the people included in the newly established BARMM to support their leaders and cooperate with one another.
He also called on the mandated leaders in the region “to be fealty to their oaths of office.”
Another BOL plebiscite would be held on February 6, this time for residents of Lanao del Norte (except Iligan City) and six municipalities in North Cotabato for their inclusion in the newly established BARMM. /cbb