Senate holds public hearing on BBL in Marawi to address violent extremism

By Jun Enriquez

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.

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.