COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The president of the fledgling Centrist Democrat Party (CDP) and local members convened in Cotabato City over the weekend and discussed the prospects of the Mindanao peace process.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, CDP’s pioneer figurehead, assured his party mates in the city and Maguindanao he will support the enactment of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Rodriguez was accompanied to Cotabato City by Peter Koeppinger, former representative to the Philippines of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung of Germany.
The BBL, once enacted into law and ratified via a plebiscite in selected southern areas, shall pave the way for the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a new Bangsamoro entity, based on the March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Rodriguez announced here he is optimistic the BBL, which Malacañang will submit to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, will be enacted into law before yearend.
Rodriguez also discussed CDP concerns with senior party mates in Central Mindanao, among them incumbent Maguindanao provincial board member Asnawi Sinsuat Limbona, and peace activist Eliseo Mercado Jr., director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance.
Limbona said the two-year-old CDP is guided by principles strictly against traditional “turncoat practices” of politicians in the country.
“It’s all about loyalty to the constituents, love for peace and tranquility among all people, regardless of religions and races,” Limbona said.
Mercado, whose peace-building projects in the ARMM are supported by European benefactors, helped establish the CDP in the autonomous region.