Ochoa in Davao to push BBL

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  – President Aquino reportedly sent Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa here in a last-ditch effort to come up with the final draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to be submitted to Congress for deliberation.

Ochoa arrived here around 1 p.m. yesterday and proceeded to the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao, where the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels were about to end their 10-day workshop aimed at ironing out the kinks in the BBL draft.

MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar welcomed Ochoa’s arrival.

“It is good that he’s there. It shows government’s sincerity in coming up with a final draft of the BBL,” Jaafar told The STAR.

Jaafar also said that based on the recent developments, the entire peace process still prevails. “It is an advantage that in spite of the heated arguments and the tension in the workshop and the meetings, still the two panels have maintained their decorum.”

He noted that from 18 articles that the two panels needed to resolve at the start of the workshop, they are now down to less than 10 as they found solutions to issues.

Jaafar, however, refused to divulge what articles and issues the two panels need to resolve.

Ab Ghafar Mohamed, the Malaysian facilitator in the peace negotiation between the government and the MILF, was also present. But since the workshop is not a negotiation, Mohamed could not take part in the activity.

“But still he helps in the deliberations,” a source told The STAR.