Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA
COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it did not feel threatened by the possibility some provisions of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) would be revised as long as the amendments would not dilute the resulting law.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told the Inquirer the rebel group was confident that what had been signed under the comprehensive agreement on the Bangsamoro would still be included in the law.
“The bottom line is that it shouldn’t be diluted,” Iqbal said on the phone.
The proposed BBL seeks to create a Bangsamoro region with enhanced autonomy as part of the comprehensive peace agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government aimed at ending more than four decades of war waged by the Moros in Mindanao.
The proposed BBL was scheduled for approval by Congress last month, but the Mamaspano tragedy derailed Malacañang’s timetable.
Malacañang originally targeted about a year of transition between the dissolution of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the first election for the Bangsamoro parliament in May 2016.
With emotions running high following the Mamasapano massacre that saw 44 police commandos, 17 MILF fighters and three civilians killed on Jan. 25 in Maguindanao province, the House of Representatives and the Senate suspended hearings on the measure.
Some lawmakers threatened to amend provisions that they believed were unconstitutional.
Misinformation
Mohammad Al-amin Julkipli of the legal team of the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (Opapp) said the proposed revisions were brought about by deliberate misinformation.
Julkipli said the misinformation sought to paint as unconstitutional provisions on the creation of agencies of constitutional bodies, the funding for the Bangsamoro, the justice system in the region and the regional police command in Bangsamoro.
“We call on the Filipino people to be very cautious in dealing with these types of reports,” he said.
Julkipli said Opapp had “repeatedly debunked” the issue that the Bangsamoro government would get P75 billion as an initial fund.
The reality, he said, was that the Bangsamoro government would get only P35 billion for the first year, which “does not significantly depart from the current allocation for the ARMM.”
Out of the P35 billion, P1 billion would be allocated for the transition from the ARMM to the Bangsamoro government, Julkipli said.
The Special Development Fund would get P7 billion in the first year of the Bangsamoro government “to allow the poverty-stricken and conflict-affected region to catch up in terms of development through infrastructure build-up and intensified delivery of social services.”
“The P27-billion estimated block grant in 2016 will be used for economic development, payment of salaries for teachers and health workers, and all other educational and health services,” he said.
Julkipli said it was not proper to lump the internal revenue allocations of local governments into the regional government and that coming from national agencies.
“These [funds] are not allocated to the autonomous region per se but are money allotted to the different local government units and the national agencies, respectively. Take these values out of the equation and we will certainly not reach P70 billion,” he said.
Sharia law
Julkipli reiterated that non-Muslims would not be subjected to the Sharia law.
“In terms of the implementation of the (Sharia) law in the Bangsamoro, it will apply to Muslims only. The Sharia courts would not cover non-Muslims as regular courts would still exist in Bangsamoro,” he said.
Julkipli said there would be no creation of agencies that would duplicate the work of the Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections and Civil Service Commission.
“In fact, the draft law is emphatic in articulating that the existence and functioning of these Bangsamoro agencies shall be without prejudice to the powers and duties of the constitutional commissions,” he said.
Julkipli said MILF members would not be automatically integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
He said there was no provision in the BBL that provides for automatic integration.
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