Final draft of Bangsamoro law submitted to Palace

COTABATO CITY, Philippines --- Members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) on Sunday signed the final draft of the Basic Bangsamoro Law (BBL), the enabling measure to  replace  the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a new Bangsamoro political entity.
The BTC, chaired by Muhaquer Iqbal, who is the chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, is composed of seven representatives each from the MILF and the government.

The commission had  initially submitted to Malacañang  several portions of the draft BBL on April 14.

The final draft of the BBL was signed by BTC members after a four-hour plenary at their office here Sunday, before representatives of local sectors and jounalists from different media outfits.

Two commissioners from the government side --- Johaira Wahab and Fatmawati Salapuddin --- were both absent from the session.

Iqbal said the final draft of the BBL, which he signed, along with 12 of 14 BTC commissioners, will soon be submitted to Malacañang for a final review before  the endorsement of the same to Congress for enactment.

The BBL, if enacted and ratified through a plebiscite  in the proposed Bangsamoro core territory will abolish the  ARMM to pave the way for the creation of an MILF-led Bangsamoro political entity.

The government’s chief negotiator, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, has denied insinuations by groups identified with the MILF that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) had asked three commissioners in the BTC  to refuse to  sign the final BBL draft to delay its submission to Malacañang.

"The report circulating on social media purporting that three BTC commissioners did not sign the draft BBL on orders of OPAPP is absolutely untrue,” Ferrer said in an emailed statement.

The MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs, Ghadzali Jaafar, said they are optimistic Congress will enact the BBL into law and will retain the entire draft law. - John Unson