I am in full support of the President’s call for the immediate passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Based on the briefing which the former Presidential Adviser on Peace Process, Sec. Ging Deles, recently gave me and my staff, the current 2017 version of the draft BBL bears no radical departure from, as it is essentially the same, as the original 2014 version crafted during PNoy’s term.
While not a perfect piece of document, the draft BBL represents a huge and monumental first step at addressing, in very concrete terms, the long-standing aspirations of our Muslim brothers and sisters. Their core aspiration is of course genuine autonomy and meaningful self-governance.
In my view, only some tweaking or fine tuning of a few provisions is needed so as to hurdle any constitutional challenge to this special piece of legislative measure.
We cannot afford to miss this yet another big shot at peace and stability in the region. The urgency in actualizing the proposed changes in the governmental, political, fiscal and justice structures for the Bangsamoro people, to supplant the discarded, deficient ARMM set-up, is most felt now, hence, imperative, given the lingering and worsening threats of terrorism and extremism in the area.
Time is indeed running out. I don’t see any other option, except chaos and more sufferings for the people, Moros and Christians alike, in the region. ###