Maranaos call for passage of BBL

A copy of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law PHOTO/ Joan Bondoc, PDI

MARAWI CITY – Several hundred Maranaos on Friday trooped to the Mindanao State University (MSU) here in time for a Senate-led hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to press for the passage of the proposed law.

Students coming from various areas of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte even brought with them placards showing support for the proposed law, which aims to give the Moro people greater autonomy under the 2014 peace accord between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Agakhan Sharif, chair of the Bangsamoro National Movement for Peace and Development, said they were urging lawmakers to pass the BBL, which the Bangsamoro people were backing, and not any other versions.

“We want the version crafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission,” he said, referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-sponsored proposed law.

He said the passage of the BBL would calm down discontent among the Moro people, which was largely fueled by perceptions the government was not sincere in solving the decades-old Moro problem.