‘BBL to end marginalization of Muslims’

MANILA, Philippines - The proposed Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR) is seen to end the marginalization of Muslims and bring social justice through a new and more inclusive government structure in the Bangsamoro, Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said yesterday.

Rodriguez, main sponsor of the proposed measure and chairman of the ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), said the BLBAR would uphold the Bangsamoro aspiration within the framework of the 1987 Constitution.

“We cannot deny the fact that we have a minority in the country… minority should be given proper recognition… they have appealed for self-autonomy,” Rodriguez said in a statement released by the Peace Process media bureau.

“We would like to give the minority a chance to express their voice,” he said.

Rodriguez said the proposed BBL would pass the constitutional scrutiny of the Supreme Court and cater to the needs and aspirations of the Bangsamoro people for meaningful autonomy.

“There is a structural defect in the ARMM and that is why we are having a new law to fix this,” Rodriguez said. “We are changing the ARMM through a new law. It was an opportunity that the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) has agreed to (abandon) their arms as long as the government would provide them… genuine autonomy.”

Rodriguez said the Bangsamoro parliament would function within the framework of the Constitution.

“They cannot enact laws that would violate the national laws,” he said.

Meanwhile, peace advocates in Plaridel, Bulacan see light at the end of the tunnel.?Ernesto Alcanzare, lead organizer of the Yes for Peace – Bayanihan para sa KKK (Kapayapaan, Kaunlaran at Kasaganahan), said amid the dimming prospects on the passage of the BBL and threats of renewed violence in Mindanao, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) endorsed the symbolic?turnover of the results of the education and advocacy component of the peace campaign during the 30th anniversary celebration of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.?

He noted that OPAPP Undersecretary Luisito Montalbo?described Yes for Peace as a campaign “initiated in 1988 as a non-governmental initiative to help in the mobilization of a national consensus for peace, as well as mobilizing people’s participation in open and participatory peace negotiations.”?Montalbo was quoted as saying that “in fact, the hard copies of Yes for Peace responses of about 11,236,918 are now with the Philippine Postal?Corporation (PhlPost).” – With Ramon Efren Lazaro?