THE government welcomes moves to convene an assembly of Moro leaders to craft a “more inclusive” enabling law to replace the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law that failed to pass during the 16th Congress, Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza said Tuesday.
“Whether they call for a convention [or ] they [just] meet together, that is something that we will welcome but we leave that to the Bangsamoro to determine,” Dureza said as he announced President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval of a new “Road Map to Peace” plan on Monday.
He said the new plan will cover the government’s engagement with the Bangsamoro, the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front and other rebel groups, like the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army.
”There will be inclusivity, henceforth, under the Duterte Roadmap for Peace where all the Bangsamoro factions, groups will have to come under one roof so that there will be inclusivity in the implementation of all these agreements,” Dureza told the media.
Under the new road map, the government will reconstitute the Bangsamoro Transition Commission envisioned by the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that the government signed with Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
But Dureza said the reconstituted BTC should also represent the Moro National Liberation Front of Nur Misuari who signed a peace pact with the government in 1996 and other Bangsamoro groups, including the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao created by Republic Act 9054.
“Perhaps we can put also in the same level the concerns of indigenous peoples, or the lumad, as mandated by [Republic Act 8371],” Dureza added.
He said the reconstituted BTC will also be mandated to propose amendments to the Philippine Constitution that are pertinent to the Bangsamoro as inputs toward an eventual federal form of government.
“Work on the new proposed Bangsamoro enabling law will be done simultaneously with the moves to shift to a federal system with the latter expected to come later under the planned timeline,” he added.
