President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. ALFRED FRIAS/Presidential Photo
President Rodrigo Duterte has named the 21 members of the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC).
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has just released the appointment papers of the 21-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission. This will signal the start of the work to come up with an inclusive Bangsamoro law that will truly reflect and address the clamor for a genuine political autonomy for the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao,” Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza said in a statement on Friday.
BTC is the body tasked to draft the new Bangsamoro enabling law.
The crafting of the law is part of the implementation process of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in March 2014.
The BTC will be chaired by the MILF with 11 members, while the government nominates 10 members, including three members from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
The creation of the expanded BTC from 15 to 21 was made after Duterte signed executive order (EO) no. 8 on November 7.
READ: Duterte signs EO reconstituting Bangsamoro Transition Council
The new members of the expanded BTC are Atty. Jose Lorena, Atty. Maisara Dandamun-Latiph, Samira Gutoc-Tomawis, Datu Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan, Dr. Susana Salvador-Anayatin, Atty. Hussin Amin, Romeo Saliga, Hatimil Hassan, Atty. Firdausi Ismail Abbas, Atty. Omar Yasser Sema, Ghadzali Jaafar, Mohagher Iqbal, Abdulraof Abdul Macacua, Ibrahim Ali, Haron Abas, Atty. Raissa Jajurie, Said Shiek, Hussein Muñoz, Melanio Ulama, Gafur Kanain and Ammal Solaiman.
“It is expected that the new members of the BTC will hit the ground running. Their role is vital for us to reach a CAB-compliant enabling law,” Irene M. Santiago, the chair of the Government Panel Implementing the Bangsamoro Accords, said.
The government has set a deadline for the BTC to submit the draft to Congress by July for deliberations and ratification.
Dureza earlier said the old Bangsamoro Basic Law, which failed to be enacted last Congress, would probably be the basic document, among other pertinent legislation, of the new enabling law. RAM/rga