Zamora asks if Muslim village in Taguig could be part of Bangsamoro

Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora

MANILA, Philippines – Can a Muslim village in Taguig City become part of the new Bangsamoro political entity?

This is one of the questions about the Bangsamoro framework agreement that puzzled lawmakers who belonged to the minority bloc of the House of Representatives, led by minority leader Ronaldo Zamora.

In the minority briefing on Wednesday, Zamora said though the deal cited the core areas that would compose the entity replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), it also said that at least 10 percent of qualified voters in other “contiguous areas” may ask for their inclusion in the new region.

“One area in Taguig which is Maharlika Village is 100 percent Muslim… Suppose somebody decide to try to campaign in Taguig and try to get it. Do you end up with a plebiscite?” Zamora asked.

“Did you see anything that excludes San Juan, for instance, having a plebiscite? They may fit somebody is able to get 10 percent,” he added.

Zamora noted that though the agreement said the 10 percent pertained to qualified voters, there is still a need to determine the “magic 10 percent.”

“How do you determine the magic 10 percent? What is it?” Zamora said.

The area may be included in the Bangsamoro once at least 10 percent of voters approve of it in a plebiscite, the agreement read.

“Areas which are contiguous and outside the core territory where there are substantial populations of  the Bangsamoro may opt anytime to be part of the territory upon petition of at least ten percent of the residents and approved by a majority of qualified voters in a plebiscite,” the agreement read.

Zamora said the delay in filing the law made it difficult for lawmakers to respond to questions about the law that they have yet to read.

“A few congressmen expressed the difficulty of dealing with the agreement that they have not yet seen, but that is already being talked about, yet they have nothing definite to go about it,” the minority leader said.

According to the agreement, the core area of Bangsamoro is composed of the present ARMM, municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao Del Norte, as well as all other barangays  in the municipalities of Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigkawayan, Pikit and Midsayap that voted for inclusion in ARMM in 2001.

Congress is awaiting the submission of a Bangsamoro basic law that would implement the provisions of a framework agreement, the result of decades of peace process between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The government missed its self-proclaimed deadline of submitting the draft law on May 5.

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