Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF negotiator, and Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, head of the government negotiating panel, exchange copies of the peace agreement between the MILF and the Aquino administration they signed in Malacañang on March 27. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Thousands of Maguindanaons and Maranaos gathered at the city plaza here Sunday in a peaceful rally and called for the passage of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law by Philippine Congress.
Bobby Benito, chair of the Mindanao Alliance for Peace (MAP), said the gathering, which was similarly held in other parts of Mindanao, has been staged to call for the “immediate” approval of the BBL already submitted to President Aquino for his endorsement.
The rally was simultaneously held a day before Congress resumes session Monday.
“We are appealing for the passage of the proposed bill expected to be certified as urgent by President Aquino,” Benito told reporters, adding that the Bangsamoro people subscribed to the roadmap for peace of President Aquino.
The draft law, created by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, is expected to undergo scrutiny by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“The draft law has undergone scrutiny by government lawyers and legal minds, we do not see it as violative of the Constitution,” Benito told reporters.
He stressed that the gathering was part of the democratic process. “It was very peaceful and successful,” Benito said.
“It simply shows our desire for lasting peace in Mindanao,” he said, adding that the Bangsamoro people have been pinning their hopes on President Aquino.
“History tells us that no other Philippine President has shown so much passion and concern for the Bangsamoro people than President Aquino, we take that as cue and we are capitalizing it so peace is achieved in our homeland,” he said.
Participants of the peaceful rally here came from the towns of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur who have grown tired of armed conflict and never-ending displacement.
Police said the rally was peaceful and orderly and participated in by about 5,000 people.
Bai Sol Sangki, a 40-year-old mother from Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, brought along her three teenaged girls to join the rally.
“It is for their future,” she said.
“I do not want them to suffer the pain of fleeing when war breaks out, especially if they have families of their own,” said Sangki who fled countless times when war broke out in her village.
For farmer Usop Umag, 50, he would like to see peace achieved in his village in his lifetime.
“I joined this peaceful rally not for me but for the sake of my children and grandchildren,” Dakutin, who was obviously sickly, said.
The rally ended past noon.
Benito said peace rallies were also held in the cities of Davao, General Santos, Tacurong, Marawi, Pagadian and Isabela; and in the towns of Pikit in North Cotabato, Jolo in Sulu, and Bonggao in Tawi-Tawi.
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