MILF: Arroyo’s BBL ‘foolish’

The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) proposed by former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is, quite literally, “foolish,” the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has said.

The MILF issued a scathing criticism of Arroyo’s Basic Act for Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (Babar), saying it was “disgusting in all aspects.”

Babar, it said, ran counter to the “spirit” of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)—the peace agreement the rebel group signed with government.

On its website, luwaran.com, the MILF said the proposed BBL crafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission was based on the peace agreement signed in 2014 and reflected the right to self-determination espoused by the Bangsamoro people.

“By signing these agreements [FAB and CAB], it is an obligation of government to enact the BBL as a way (of complying) with its obligation contained in these agreements,” it said.

The acronym Babar itself is also grating for the MILF.

“The acronym itself already means ‘foolish’ or ‘crazy’ in [the] Maguindanao language, which is spoken by over a million people,” the group said.

“The last letter ‘r’ is sometimes changed to ‘l’ if it is uttered by people farther from the Iranon areas between Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur,” they added.

Arroyo filed Babar or House Bill No. 6121 last week, a few days before the draft BBL was transmitted by Malacañang to Congress.

The MILF said Arroyo should not have filed the bill as it “clearly favors special groups of people, and more seriously, rescinds a moral obligation contained in [the] agreement that it entered into with, including those with MILF and MNLF.”

The group also recalled how then President Arroyo initialed the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in July 2008, only to “renege on her obligation.”

“This led to bloody fighting in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, and many other areas in Mindanao,” the MILF said.