SENATOR Nancy Binay expressed her support for the groups asserting that the interests and rights of lumad and other Indigenous People be recognized and protected in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The senator made the call after 400 tribal leaders from Mindanao convened for a legislative assembly last week.
“It is necessary for the voices of our non-Moro IPs in Mindanao to be heard in the ongoing peace talks as they will also be directly affected by this law,” she added.
Binay said she believed that the Mindanao Indigenous People’s Legislative Assembly from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 was an important venue for discussions on how to include the concerns of lumads on issues of ancestral domain, governance, economy, and justice system in the new BBL version.
“The issue of IPs is one that is close to my heart as I have IP roots by way of my father” she said.
The senator’s father, former vice president Jejomar Binay, is an Ibanag. His mother, the late Lourdes Gatan, hailed from Cabagan town in Isabela.
Binay said she was hopeful that the concerns of non-Moro IP will be considered by the leaders of Congress as well as the BTC after they meet with the Tribal Legislative Assembly, particularly issues on ancestral lands and the recognition of the rights of IPs.
She said the lumads are doubtful their voices would be heard in talks about BBL when they were the ines being caught in the war in Mindanao and were being force to keave their himes.
“I hope the discussions in the Mipla will erase their doubts and fears,” said Binay. She believes their participaton and suggestions caneffectively help our lawmakers in drafting a new BBL in the goal of reviving peace in Mindanao.” said Binay.
Last Aug. 7, Congress received the new BBL drafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission. The proposed law aims to create a new region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as part of the 2014 peace agreement of the government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
