THE government is ready to face challenges after the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), the chairman of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on BBL said.
Centrist Democratic Party Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on BBL, said that a BBL that adheres to the Constitution will be passed by Congress on June 11, or before the last State of the Nation Address of President Aquino.
“[The Moro Islamic Liberation Front [MILF] leaders may do] whatever they want to do after this bill [has been passed]. We have tried our best to give it [BBL] to them… if they refuse to accept it and they want to go back to square one, and they want to again fight, well we’re ready for that,” he said.
Earlier, Rodriguez said that the MILF has no option but to accept the House of Representatives’s version of the proposed BBL, which removed eight unconstitutional provisions of the original Malacañang-proposed BBL.
The ad hoc committee tasked to scrutinize the BBL will resume its discussion on the measure from April 20 to 30.
“The government cannot be in a position of weakness. We are the State, we are the government. And we are now reaching to them,” the lawmaker added.
The BBL aims to create the new Bangsamoro juridical entity replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Grandstanding
NATIONAL Unity Party Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Cavite, an administration ally, on Saturday said that political grandstanding against the passage of the BBL will only block peace in Mindanao.
Barzaga warned colleagues in Congress, saying those who are engaging in grandstanding are not giving peace a chance.
Barzaga, member for the majority of the House Committee on Justice, said BBL detractors are trying to make it appear that the MILF cannot be trusted just because its chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal is using an alias.
“Detractors are making a mountain out of a molehill just because a leader of a revolutionary organization, like the MILF, is using a nom de guerre. The question is, is this enough to throw away our best chance at achieving peace?” he said.
Barzaga said that Iqbal’s use of an alias—an act which is but expected from any member of a revolutionary group—has been the focus of public discussions, instead of the more important issues, like empowering the Moro people to choose their own leaders.
“Nowhere in the BBL does it say that power is outright granted to the MILF. The BBL is about creating conditions for our Moro countrymen to choose their leaders through democratic means; it’s about creating conditions for peace and development,” he said.
Under the bill, MILF leaders are allowed to seek political positions by participating in the elections.
MILF trustworthy?
“FROM the very start, the MILF has exhibited trustworthiness by helping the government in development projects, counterterrorism and anti-criminality efforts,” Barzaga added.
He said giving so much emphasis on a trivial thing, such as Iqbal’s real name, diverts the people’s attention from the administration’s aim of giving the Moro people “the opportunity to chart a future of true peace and stability.”
“The BBL is not just about the MILF but for all of Mindanao,” Barzaga said. “Those who are against the BBL want us to fixate on the MILF; this is myopic.”
Barzaga said the public should be made to understand that the BBL “is first and foremost, a human development law.”
Earlier, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., said that the issue on the true identity of Iqbal will not affect the passage of the BBL.
Belmonte said that he does not think it invalidates the peace agreement between the government and the Moro rebels, with Iqbal not using his real name in signing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
Belmonte said he believed Iqbal is just using a nom de guerre to protect his family from persecution.
Rodriguez said that the BBL is not authored by Iqbal but by lawmakers.
“That is why we have authors and as members of Congress, we as congressmen determine the validity of this bill without looking that it came from a CAB signed by Iqbal,” Rodriguez added.
He said that Iqbal, using an alias in signing the peace pact with the government, has no bearing as far as BBL is concerned.