Aquino sees ‘new era’ in Mindanao, as Bangsamoro bill goes to Congress

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, 2014. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–President Aquino will finally submit to Congress on Wednesday the draft bill that should pave the way for the creation of a new autonomous region in Mindanao.

Aquino will “personally endorse” the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to both houses of Congress during turnover rites in Malacañang at 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles.

President Aquino himself confirmed that the bill was almost done and ready for filing at the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“The leaders and our expected ‘champions’ in Congress will be going to Malacañang and the President has decided he will personally endorse the draft to [them],” Deles told reporters in Davao City.

“The President has decided to personally submit the completed draft to Congress to highlight the importance of the proposed legislative measure,” she said in a later statement.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. will receive for their respective chambers the copies of the BBL.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Mohagher Iqbal, who chaired the 14-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) that prepared the initial draft BBL, will attend the ceremony along with other BTC members and government and MILF peace negotiators.

Deles said the document, which had gone through several revisions since April, was just being “cleaned up” before the final version would be made available to Congress, more than five months after the government signed a historic peace agreement with the MILF.

In his speech at the launch of the Philippine Business for Social Progress’ Mindanao Inclusive Agribusiness Program, Aquino said there was now “a new era of hope” in Mindanao, “hope founded on concrete achievements.”

“Through the pursuit of a peace founded on justice, we now cast away the divisions of the past and, thus, forge a more prosperous, more inclusive region,” he said.

During his trip to Europe later this week, Aquino said he would speak proudly of Mindanao and spread the message that “integrity works, reform works, the Philippines works.”

“The changing face of Mindanao is among our greatest sources of pride. It is a region that once was mired in strife but will soon realize its dreams of peace and prosperity, of innovation and advancement, of being a wellspring of opportunity for its peoples,” he said

“This, I believe, is the great legacy we work toward, a legacy we proudly can bequeath to the next generation of Filipinos,” Aquino added.

Malacañang was supposed to transmit the draft BBL on May 5, a month after it received the document from the BTC.

But Palace lawyers raised multiple red flags and returned the draft to the transmission commission with major revisions.

Despite the delay, the President is looking to hold a plebiscite on a new Bangsamoro law by the end of the year. The BBL tops the list of 26 legislative measures he wants Congress to pass during the remainder of his term.

Both Drilon and Belmonte have committed to give the BBL top priority even if both chambers of Congress are busy deliberating on next year’s proposed P2.606-trillion national budget.

“I’ll wait for the receipt of the draft. But we will work on it, we will work on it double time. We will give it the highest priority so we can pass it with enough time for ratification so the new entity will be in place by July 1, 2016,” Drilon had said last month.

Once transmitted, the draft law will undergo deliberations in Congress. Upon approval, a plebiscite will be held to determine which provinces would become part of the Bangsamoro.–With a report from Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao; and Kristine Angeli Sabillo, INQUIRER.net 

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Originally posted: 1:54 pm | Monday, September 8th, 2014