Intrigues mar signing of Bangsamoro draft law
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), composed of representatives from the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), signed on Sunday the final draft of the proposed law for the establishment of the Bangsamoro government in Mindanao, officials said Monday.
Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs, said the signing was held at the BTC office in Cotabato City on Easter Sunday.
“Except for two BTC commissioners, all the members signed the document,” Jaafar said.
“Hopefully, the proposed law, which underwent a thorough consultation and study, will get the approval of the Philippine Congress,” Jaafar said.
Earlier, the unsigned and partial draft copy of the document was forwarded to the Office of the President for review.
Two BTC commissioners failed to show up during the signing. No reason was given when Johaira Wahab and Fatmawati Salapuddin did not attend the signing. Salapuddin and Wahab were both representatives of the government in the BTC.
Jaafar would not speculate on the absence of two commissioners.
The BTC, chaired by MILF chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal, will submit the final draft to Malacañang for review and assessment before it will be forwarded to Congress, according to Jaafar.
He said no copy would be made public so far until the official submission of the draft to Congress.
On Sunday, the chief government negotiator, Prof. Miriam Coronel Ferrer, denied news circulating in the social media that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has directed three of BTC commissioners not to sign the draft.
Ferrer said the report was false and reiterated that the OPAPP did not order any BTC member not to affix his signature on the draft law.
“The report circulating in social media that three BTC commissioners did not sign the draft BBL on orders of OPAPP is false,” Ferrer said in a statement hours before the draft BBL was signed Sunday.
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