MANILA: The draft of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) has been submitted to President Benigno Aquino III, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) said yesterday.
According to an article posted on the Milf’s website, the BBL was submitted around 8pm on Wednesday and was received by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.
The document was signed by Milf chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC).
“We are respectfully submitting the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) … and we are ready to adhere to our understanding to work on the final text of the proposed BBL after its review by the President,” Iqbal was quoted as saying in the cover letter of the document.
This developed after the peace panels of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Milf held series of meetings to resolve sticky issues on the draft BBL before it is submitted to Congress.
The Milf article said the two parties will meet again after Aquino reviewed the draft BBL to finally put in place its final text, which would be certified as urgent by the President.
On Monday, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said in a statement that the timeline for the drafting of the BBL was on track and that the proposed law will be submitted to Congress within August.
Last week, issued a joint statement which states that they “have concluded discussions on the various issues” on the draft BBL.
The BBL will establish the new and better political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It is expected to pave the way for a lasting peace in the south.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) is a Moro and Lumad group formed in the 1960s following the Jabidah massacre to achieve greater Bangsamoro autonomy in the southern Philippines.
On October 7, 2012, President Benigno Aquino announced a peace deal with the Milf and that “This framework agreement paves the way for a final and enduring peace in Mindanao”. Milf Vice Chairman Ghazali Jaafar is quoted as saying “We are very happy. We thank the president for this.” The deal was signed on October 15, 2012. Its aim is to pave the way to enduring peace between the two parties by officially envisaging an autonomous region in Mindanao.
According to the framework, this semi-independent Muslim area would have a more just share of revenues from the extraction of its own plentiful resources, budgetary autonomy, its own police, and sharia law only for Muslims.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
