By Jun Enriquez
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| Bangsamoro activists expressed their sentiments outside the gymnasium, the venue of the Senate public hearing on BBL |
Marawi City – “We are
not agreeable on status quo” this was the statement of Senator Juan Miguel
Zubiri referring to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a failed
experiment in governance. It was tried in four decades but violent extremism
became more severe because the government is not so much sincere in the peace
process, Zubiri said during the Senate public hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic
Law (BBL) on January 26, 2018 held in MSU Gym Marawi city, chairman of the
sub-committee on BBL in the Senate. Other senators present during the hearing were
Senators Angara, Hontiveros, Ejercito, Aquino and Villar.
The Senators became very emotional when they visited the
ground zero of Marawi, the main battle area of the Marawi siege. Upon seeing
the area the problem in Marawi needs political solution. Zubiri said he was hoping
that what happened in Marawi City will not happen to other places in Mindanao. ”We
must put to stop the violent extremism” by passing the Bangsamoro Basic law
(BBL) so that extremism will no longer use it as an excuse.
Marawi City is the
place of the Maranaos. President Duterte has a Maranao blood on the side of his
mother. Zubiri said this is the best time to make BBL in reality because
President Duterte is came from Davao, a Mindanaoan, he knows the importance of
peace in Mindanao.
Zubiri said that at first the BBL filed in the Senate was
not the BTC version. He was requested by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission
(BTC) and some non-government organizations (NGOs) to file the BTC version BBL.
Zubiri filed the BTC version BBL and now is the working draft of the Philippine
Senate.
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| The Bangsamoro Women participants |
The Senate have its own timeline, they will conduct public
hearing in Zamboanga, Sulu and Tawi-tawi. The committee report will come out in
the plenary and on March 22, hopefully will be finished on third and final reading
before the senate break.
Senator Sonny Angara applauded Senator Zubiri for taking
as chair of the Sub-committee on BBL. He said the Senators from Luzon are just
behind the backseat supporting the BBL. He also extended his thanks to the
Military headed by General Galvez and many others for fighting to defend the
democratic government and prevented to become a terrorist capital in Southeast
Asia. Other senators also expressed the same sentiments.
Senator Riza Hontiveros lauded the CSOs for documented the
Marawi crisis and their visit helps them as an eye openerin tackling the BBL. The
CSOs wanted to be part of the Marawi rehabilitation to include emotional,
psychological and cultural infrastructure to remove from the hearts and minds
about the resentments happened in Marawi of the last year’s tragedy. She
extended her thanks to the MSU as the institution helps to rebuild Marawi and
heal the wounds of history
BTC chairman Ghazali Jaafar, also the Vice chairman for
MILF political affairs said it was almost 50 years war abridging in Mindanao. The
problem behind in Mindanao is the Bangsamoro people. The Bangsamoro issue is
the legitimate rights to have a government of their own but not to separate and
still under the Republic of the Philippines where all the rights of the people
are guaranteed. He said in crafting the BBL it did not intended to violate the
Philippine constitution but for the good of the Bangsamoro people, not only for
the Muslims but also for the Christians and Lumads, because the settlers people
from Luzon and Visayas also love the Bangsamoro homeland including the Chinese for
not fighting each other. What was happening in Marawi has its own reason. What
was happening in Marawi is going to be addressed by the BBL. The BBL will solve
the problem in Marawi through political solution. The solution is to grant the
BBL
BTC Commissioner Dr. Susan Anayatin, gave brief
information of the history of the Bangsamoro. Prior to the the coming of the
Spaniards in the Philippines, Islam in the Philippines already existed in Sulu
in 1380 and in Mindanao in 1475. The Spanish expedition came led by Magellan in
1521 then the Moro-Spanish war ensued. The Moros remained unconquered people.
the word Moro was named by the Spanish colonizers refer to all Muslims same as
in Spain the Muslims ruled for almost eight century. The Moros remained
unconquered despite several attempts by the Spaniards. The Spanish utilized the
Christianized Filipinos to fight against the Moros. Spain ceded the Philippines
for 20 Million dollars sold to the Americans in 1898 including Mindanao but the
Moros claimed that Mindanao is not part of the Philippines.
The American colony created the land distribution laws favored
the settlers or homesteaders from Luzon and the Visayas to settle in Mindanao
and supported them to own lands as much as 24 hectares while the Moros and
Indigenous peoples will only owned 10 hectares and this will decreasing. The
population of the Moros and Lumads become smaller due to influx of the
settlers.
The Problem of the Bangsamoro in their fight for
liberation is the suffering of injustices committed by the colonizers and
continued by the Philippine government in their Bangsamoro homeland.
The Bangsamoro struggle started in the late 1960s by the
Muslim Independent movement (MIM) then the emergence of the moro Islamic liberation
front (MNLF) in the early 1970s and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in
1997 and continue the Bangsamoro struggle. The Government of the Philippines (GPH)
and MILF agreed to have single point agenda on how to solve the Bansamoro
problem.
Series of peace negotiations with the government and the
Moro fronts for almost 50 years. The Government signed the 1976 tripoli
agreement and the 1996 final peace agreement with the MNLF. It follows with the
signing of Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro (CAB) in 2014. The CAB is
the basis for the drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). The passage of
the BBL into law will bring harmony, peace and justice for all. Mindanao the
land of promise will become a reality.
BTC Commissioner Latiph that the BBL has 18 provisions
including the preamble stating among others the power sharing, transitional
modalities and normalization. She said the purpose of the BBL is to establish a
political entity, provide for its basic structure of government in recognition
of the justness and legitimacy of the cause of the Bangsamoro people and their aspiration
to chart their political future through a democratic process that will secure
their identity and prosperity and allow meaningful self-governance. She said there
is nothing unconstitutional when it comes to the form of government. The sultanate
before was parliamentary, the nearest form of government in our hearts.
Dr. Dipatuan, a private doctor and a Maranao said that radicalism
and violent extremism in the Philippines are driven by hopelessness for failure
of the government to address the long societal problem the injustices suffered
by the Bangsamoro and indigenous people, widespread poverty, poor delivery of
basic services, widespread criminality and human trafficking. The long delay of
the implementation of the CAB and the failure of the congress approved the BBL
will allow the violent extremism to exists. He said the immediate passage of
the BBL is very important for a peaceful society.