MILF won't renegotiate issues settled in framework deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) blamed the government for the delays in the crafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and maintained that it won’t renegotiate matters that were settled in the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).

MILF said the Office of the President’s comments on the draft law “departed from the letter and spirit” of the FAB and its annexes. The agreement and the annexes serve as the basis of the crafting of the BBL.

“All those issues that are settled in the FAB and its Annexes will not be subject for renegotiation,” the group said in an article posted on its website luwaran.com.

“Settled language in the FAB and its Annexes will not be subject for renegotiation,” it added.

The FAB, which seeks to form a Bangsamoro region with enhanced political and economic powers, was signed by the government and the MILF in 2012.

Last March, the government and the MILF inked the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the document that will serve as the basis of the BBL.

The Bangsamoro Transition Commission, a panel composed of government and MILF representatives, submitted the draft of the BBL to Malacañang last April. A legal team from the Office of the President was tasked to review the draft law before endorsing it to Congress.

MILF said the Constitution has to be amended to finally put to rest the Mindanao conflict, an opinion not shared by the government. Differing views among the two panels have hampered the submission of the draft law to Congress.

MILF said Malacañang has adopted “a very conservative interpretation” of the constitution, a move that the group said was a “radical departure” from its promise.

The government supposedly claimed that the flexibility of the Constitution would allow the implementation of the FAB and its annexes.

“Many of the delays are caused by issues that were already settled in the FAB and its Annexes but are kept coming back and forth at the instance of the GPH (government of the Philippines),” MILF said.

“In view of the wide disparity between the two positions of the two parties, finding an agreed version takes some time.”

MILF claimed that the current government proposals would not restore dignity to “a people who suffered tyranny” and would not secure “a peaceful and prosperous future.”

The group said it is “stretching the protocols of the engagement” to come up with an agreed version of the BBL.

“If both parties only abide by these commitments, the process would really move forward faster and save them from some irritating moments in their current engagement,” MILF said. (with a report from I. Bongcales)