Moro groups press for speedy passage of Bangsamoro law

The signing Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro INQUIRE FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Moro civil society groups are pressing President Aquino to certify as urgent the bill on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will form the basis for the creation of the new Bangsamoro autonomous set-up in Mindanao.

Duma Mascod, vice chair of the Mindanao Alliance for Peace (MAP), said the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, or the BBL, was submitted to Aquino a few days ago but it has yet to be transmitted to Congress for deliberation.

The House of Representatives will convene on Monday, he noted.

Mascod said that to press the President to certify the bill as urgent, Moro civil society groups would be staging rallies on May 4 in several places, including Cotabato City, Marawi, Pikit in North Cotabato and General Santos City.

He said the fear of Moro civil society groups was that some sectors could delay the passage of the BBL or tinker with it.

“There are ‘bright boys’ who would delay the law and want to include some changes in the CAB (Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro),” he said.

Mascod said for Moro organizations, the draft BBL should not be tinkered with anymore and its transmittal to Congress should be fast-tracked.

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, government peace panel chair, has said that the BBL was the result of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, which embodies “the justness and legitimacy of the cause of the Bangsamoro people.”

Once passed and ratified, the BBL will usher in the dissolution of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and its replacement with the Bangsamoro entity.

The Bangsamoro Transition Commission, headed by Mohagher Iqbal, believes that a clean slate is essential for the new political entity to function competently.

“We would want a bureaucracy that would work for the Bangsamoro. We want a clean slate,” said Bangsamoro Commissioner Raissa Jajurie.

This means that there would be mass lay offs as the entire ARMM government will become non-existent then.

Jajurie said based on the discussions and deliberations within the transition commission, the gradual termination of government employees is required as new offices, agencies and positions will be created and these are significantly different from the present structure.

These gradual lay-offs will be done in a manner that the continuity of government services will be preserved, she said.

“The BTC also does not want see that the next day there are no more teachers in our schools or employees in the hospitals. We want to ensure the continuity of services particularly on health and education,” Jajurie said.