BTC says PNoy wish on Bangsamoro a 'tall order'

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has described as “a tall order” President Aquino’s wish that the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) complete the Bangsamoro Basic Law by the end of the month.

The group, however, believes that the 15-member commission will not give up on the challenge.

“The adage ‘there is no rocky hill for an iron will’ is what pushes the Bangsamoro Transition Commission to work on March 31 as the timeline it commits itself to submit to the Office of the President the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” the MILF said in an editorial posted on its website luwaran.com.

“This was what President Benigno Aquino III wished when the BTC commissioners paid him a courtesy call last January 30.This indeed is a tall order and the BTC is not balking from this challenge,” it added.

MILF said the BTC would “never accept failure unless it has tried.”

Composed of members of various ethnic backgrounds, the BTC is tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will pave way to the establishment of the Bangsamoro region.

The body was created through an executive order issued by President Aquino in 2012. The Bangsamoro Basic Law will have to be approved by affected residents through a plebiscite before it can be enacted.

The signing of the final peace agreement between the government and the MILF has been slated for March 27.

MILF said it has been feeling the “heat and sting of working under tight schedules” during the almost 17 years of the peace process.

“There has never been a light moment in this engagement. The same situation is to be expected once the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) formally assumes power in 2015,” it said. 

“One year transition is too short by any standard.”

MILF noted that the BTA has to set up institutions, write the local government code, the administrative code, and the election code for the Bangsamoro within the one-year period. The body, MILF added, would also be tasked to unify the Bangsamoro people and rally them towards the vision set forth by its late chairman Salamat Hashim.

“The MILF has accepted all sorts of challenges for more than four decades of struggle, and surely, it will also accept this challenge,” the group said.