Local executives from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Christian groups, Indigenous Peoples, and Civil Society Organizations convened on Friday to declare their support for the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that will address the historical injustice committed to the Bangsamoro.
ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said that the passage of the BBL will prevent conflicts like what had happened in Marawi.
“Let us not give the terrorists an opportunity to create a narrative that we are not true to our promises,” Hataman said.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu expressed his full support to the bill for the future generation and for the unity of Muslims, Christians, and Lumads.
“If we [politicians] are a hindrance to the passage of the bill, then I’m willing to step down,” Mangudadatu said.
The Provincial Government of Cotabato, on the other hand, has submitted a resolution to the Senate declaring their support to the proposed bill and calling on the Congress and Senate to hasten its passage.
The IP community also shared their confidence on the gains of BBL once passed.
“We are optimistic that once that BBL is passed, we can achieve just and genuine peace, meaningful development and political and social empowerment,” Director Fatima Karakan of the Office of the Southern Communities of ARMM, said.
Led by the Subcommittee on the BBL, the public hearing held in Shariff Kabunsuan Complex was organized for the Mindanaoans to fully participate in the deliberations. The hearing will continue in Marawi City today.
The Bangsamoro Transition Commission, the body tasked to create an inclusive Bangsamoro Law, presented the historical struggle of Moros for peace as well as the salient points of BBL in front of hundreds of local officials, IPs and representatives from different CSOs.
There have been two Senate hearings on BBL held in Manila in Dec. 20 last year and Jan. 23 where the Senate has thrown its full support on the passage of BBL with Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri solution to achieve peace in Mindanao.
As this developed, senators took a step closer to the realization of the BBL bill when they visited the main battle area in Marawi City for another hearing on the proposed measure.
The senators were led by Zubiri, the chairman of the sub-commitee on the BBL, who was joined by Senators JV Ejercito, Risa Hontiveros, Cynthia Villar, Paolo Benigo “Bam” Aquino IV, and Sonny Angara.
Zubiri said the passage of the BBL will help prevent the spread of extremism in the region.
“As we speak now, tuloy-tuloy ang recruitment nitong mga grupong ito for the next battle. To be able to stop that, kailangan natin itong long-term political solution na BBL para ang ating mga leaders dito sa Bangsamoro region ay maikumbinse nila na mawala na ang local support dito sa mga extremist groups na ito,” Zubiri said.
Ejercito, for his part, said, ‘‘Kung magkaroon na ng BBL, binigyan na natin ng autonomy that they want, and siguro itong Marawi, yung rehabilitation plan dito I think would be very crucial,” Ejercito said.
In October last year, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the liberation of Marawi from “terrorist influence.”
Since then, the government has started the rehabilitation of the war-torn city.
Aquino, a member of the Senate minority bloc, also backed the immediate passage of the BBL.
“Unahin na po natin ito because urgent na po at pressing yung mga issues natin na kailangang mai-address ng Bangsamoro Basic Law. I think in this case mayroon tayong commonality, mayroon tayong pwedeng mapagkasunduan,” Aquino said.
Meanwhile, Angara said the visit to Marawi City made him appreciate the work the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has done to contain the fighting.
“They saved us from being an outpost of terrorism in the world,” Angara said.
Zubiri had committed to help pass the BBL on third and final reading by March.