Duterte pleased with creation of Bangsamoro region

DIGOS CITY, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday he was pleased with the creation of the new Bangsamoro region in Mindanao.

“It gives me the high that we were able to realize at least a part, maybe not all, but a part of what the entire country would have wished for the Moro people of Mindanao,” Duterte said in a speech during the inauguration of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) in Cotabato City on Friday.

“I cannot express my sense of gratitude to you for understanding, giving us the time to craft the law, to make it legal and promise q new dawn for the Bangsamoro area or territory. Talagang totoo ang kaligayahan ko (My happiness is real).”

The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was ratified in a plebiscite held on January 21 and February 6 this year.

The president said he is also hoping to reach an agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by its founding chair Nur Misuari to make the peace process complete.

“Maybe in due time, with the prayers of Allah we’d be able to fix also the western part, and I hope to talk to our brother Nur Misuari on the western side,” he said. /ee

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