Final draft of Bangsamoro Basic Law signed

COATABATO CITY, Philippines - Members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) signed here last Sunday the final draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the enabling measure for the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a new political entity.

The BTC, chaired by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Muhaquer Iqbal, is composed of seven representatives each from the MILF and the government.

The commission had submitted to Malacañang some of the printed important portions of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) last April 14.

The final draft was signed by BTC members after a four-hour plenary at their office in Cotabato, which was witnessed by local leaders and journalists.

Two commissioners from the government side, Johaira Wahab and Fatmawati Salapuddin, were absent at the signing ceremonies. Iqbal said the final draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which he signed, along with 12 of 14 BTC commissioners, would soon be submitted to Malacañang for final review before it will be endorsed to Congress for enactment.

The Bangsamoro Basic Law, if enacted and ratified through a plebiscite in the proposed Bangsamoro core territory, will, in effect, deactivate the self-governing ARMM to pave the way for the creation of an MILF-led Bangsamoro political entity.

Government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer has denied insinuations by groups identified with the MILF that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) had asked three BTC commissioners not to sign the final Bangsamoro Basic Law draft to delay its submission to Malacañang. “The report circulating on social media purporting that three BTC commissioners did not sign the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law on orders of OPAPP is absolutely untrue,” Ferrer said.