Palace to ARMM residents: Support leaders of soon-to-be-created Bangsamoro region
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang urged residents of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to support the leaders of the soon-to-be-formed Bangsamoro region as it expressed hope that the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law would bring peace in southern Philippines.
BOL, which will create a Bangsamoro region that will have greater political and economic powers, was ratified last Friday after an overwhelming majority of ARMM residents voted in favor of the measure.
More than 1.5 million ARMM residents voted "yes" to BOL ratification while only close to 199,000 voted "no" during a plebiscite held last January 21. The "yes" votes also won in Cotabato City and in Basilan province, except Isabela City. The "no" votes won in Sulu but the result is not expected to have an effect because ARMM provinces are taken as one geographical unit.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said critics of the BOL should respect the decision of the majority by cooperating with the leaders of the new Bangsamoro autonomous region. He said all stakeholders must unite to craft an autonomous government that would be responsive to the needs of the Bangsamoro people and other citizens within the region.
"The sovereign voice of the participating voters in the just concluded plebiscite has spoken, ushering a ray of hope to that war weary, poverty stricken, long neglected and much heralded promised land of the '50s. The Bangsamoro Organic Law has been officially ratified, it behooves the discordant voices to yield to the rule of the majority," Panelo said in a statement.
"We urge the people in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to give their new leaders their support and cooperation but at the same we implore them to be vigilant and assertive of their rights. We also call on the mandated leaders to be fealty to their oaths of office," he added.
Panelo noted that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao would be in place as soon as President Duterte constitutes the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority that would oversee the interim government.
He said the creation of the BARMM would push through unless the Supreme Court rules in favor of petitions questioning the constitutionality of the BOL.
"The ruling, however, remains in the realm of imponderables. We [cannot] be waylaid in the meanwhile in the race to peace and progress," the presidential spokesman said.
Panelo said Duterte is hopeful that the ratification of BOL would "commence the process of correcting the historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people."
"The quest to lasting peace in that region saw not only the bloody encounters among the Muslim combatants but spawned more conflicts as well, giving birth to more armed groups and violent hostilities to the sufferance of the Bangsamoro people and the Christian inhabitants," Panelo said.
"To the credit of the Muslim warriors, they made way to another thrust for the elusive peace as they participated in a democratic process weighing in their collective voice," he added.
Panelo said the Duterte administration was looking forward to another orderly plebiscite in Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato on February 6
"We await with enthusiasm a favourable result," he said.
The February 6 plebiscite will be held in Lanao del Norte except Iligan City and the towns of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit, Pigkayawan and Tulunan in North Cotabato.
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