Moro group asks Duterte for Ramadan gift: Extend Bangsamoro transition

KORONADAL CITY—Will President Rodrigo Duterte bear good news for the Bangsamoro people as Muslims celebrate Eid’l Fitr to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan on Thursday (May 13)?

For the group One Bangsamoro Movement (1Bangsa), a network of 60 civil society organizations, Moros hope to hear the President speak about the need for Congress to hasten legislation on proposals to extend the Bangsamoro transition by another three years.

1Bangsa president Alan Balangi-Amer pleaded for Duterte to certify as priority the proposed measure as his gift to Filipino Muslims for Ramadan.

He said extending the term of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), will augur well for genuine peace in Mindanao.

The BTA’s term expires on June 30, 2022. There are current proposals to extend this until 2025 which would require postponement of regional elections in 2022.

“Various sectors have spoken loud and clear in endorsing the BTA extension,” Balangi-Amer said.

He said majority of Filipino Muslims favor the extension of the transition period in the BARMM to sustain the gains of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

Last March, peace advocacy groups submitted to Malacañang a petition containing more than one million signatures calling on Duterte to certify the transition extension bills as a priority measure.

Balangi-Amer said there was a need for Congress to act with dispatch, noting that it has only nine remaining session days before it adjourns sine die on June 4.

The Senate committee on local government is set to reopen discussions on the proposal on Friday (May 14).

TSB