Solon: Why not give BBL a chance?

MANILA, Philippines – Despite growing opposition to the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), a lawmaker has urged the public to give the measure a chance to be enacted.

In a student forum held at UP Diliman on Thursday, Anak Mindanao Rep. Sitti Djalia Hataman thumbed down calls to junk the BBL.

Hataman, who worked in the peace process since 1997, said that as a Bangsamoro, she is hurt when people clamor for the scrapping of the BBL.

“The Bangsamoro story is the story of the Filipino… The BBL is an offshoot of 17 years of peace negotiations. And as it is built on previous talks, what it also contains is 40 years of peace talks. Kaya yung pagsabihan mo kami na pag-usapan ulit, parang (sa akin)  ilang taon pa ba nating pag-uusapan?(That’s why when people said that the BBL should be renegotiated, I ask ‘Until when will we talk about this?’)” Hataman said.

She also said that today is the right time to pass the proposed measure into law.
“Mayroon na po akong limang anak. Ayoko pong hanggang ngayon ay yun pa rin ang pinag-uusapan nila,” she said. (I already have five children. I do not want for them to still be discussing the BBL when they grow up.)

A recent Pulse Asia Survey revealed that 44 percent of Filipinos opposed the passage of the BBL.

Calls for the junking of the BBL snowballed following the botched operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25 that resulted in the death of 67 people.

The forum tackled various facets of the BBL, including an anthropological discussion of the Bangsamoro struggle and the transition process once the BBL is passed into law.