Mindanao execs urged to support Bangsamoro framework pact

MANILA, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II yesterday called on local officials in Mindanao to extend support to the Framework Agreement for Bangsamoro signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Roxas said local officials are in the best position to explain to their constituents the advantages of creating a new Bangsamoro Region as a necessary step in securing just and lasting peace in Mindanao.

“Together with the President, I celebrate with the whole of Mindanao and the entire country on the potential that the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement brings,” Roxas said during the opening ceremony of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) office in Cotabato City.

“The Framework Agreement is a crucial and necessary first step towards lasting peace and development in Mindanao. Thus, I ask for everyone’s support so that we can hurdle the challenges ahead and succeed in transforming this nascent promise into reality,” he said.

Roxas joined Presidential Adviser for Peace Process Teresita Deles in the opening ceremony, which was also attended by the 15 members of the BTC led by MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal.

On Wednesday, President Aquino will attend the local government summit of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), officials said.

Aquino is expected to discuss the gains of the ongoing peace talks between the government and the MILF as well as vital development and security concerns.

Members of the government panel led by chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer are doing a series of consultations with local officials on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The BTC is tasked to craft the Bangsamoro Basic Law to be submitted to Congress.

Once Congress approves the Basic Law, it will be submitted for plebiscite.

Once ratified, the ARMM is deemed abolished and the new Bangsamoro Region will be formally established.

Roxas expressed optimism that the BTC would exert all efforts to consult and rally the support of all stakeholders in the ongoing peace process.

“I trust the Bangsamoro Transition Commission to draft an Organic Act that is within the spirit and framework of the Constitution. I am confident that whatever present concerns we have will all be properly addressed by the more comprehensive treatment by the bill, containing the Bangsamoro Organic Act, to be filed in Congress,” Roxas said.

Roxas urged members of the BTC to stand their ground and ward off attempts to sabotage the peace process in Mindanao.

Iqbal, for his part, said the MILF still welcomes the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) led by disgraced commander Ameril Umbra Kato to join and support the peace process.

During the launching of the BTC central office, Iqbal said the MILF’s central leadership had exerted all efforts to bring back Kato and his men.

“We have tried everything. Still, we haven’t cut the bridge that can link him (Kato) to the MILF,” Iqbal said.

Kato broke away from the MILF and founded the BIFF in opposing the peace talks with the government.

Ferrer earlier called on the BIFF to join the peace process to hasten the attainment of lasting peace and development in the south. – With John Unson, Evelyn Macairan