Monday, January 26, 2015

Deles welcomes support of bishops for Bangsamoro autonomy; clarifies BBL will not lead to secession

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles hailed the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for its support to the provision of genuine autonomy in the Bangsamoro, a development anticipated with the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and its subsequent ratification in the envisioned core territory. 

“We would like to express our appreciation to the CBCP for its support for the Bangsamoro Basic Law, as we would like to allay the concerns of the Conference over the issues of territorial integrity and national sovereignty,” Deles said.

“We want to grant self-determination and autonomy to our Bangsamoro,” CBCP President and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said. However, the archbishop also cautioned against possible threats to the territorial integrity of the country, saying “we want to ensure that this pursuit of self-determination also take into consideration the territorial integrity of our country that we should make sure that no secession result from this law.”

Deles, however, also reiterated that the BBL will not lead to secession or the alleged dismemberment of the country.

“We understand the concerns of the bishops about the issue of self-determination and we would like to make the firm assurance that the threat of secession is amply precluded by the letter and spirit of the draft BBL itself, official statements on-the-record as far as the parties are concerned, a formal agreement on the decommissioning of MILF fighters, and a recent survey reflecting an overwhelming majority of our Muslim brethren professing their pride in being Filipinos.”

Deles was referring to a survey which showed that 96 percent of residents in the prospective Bangsamoro region profess pride in being Filipino. According to Deles, this is “a formidable social and psychological barrier against any groups with secessionist or separatist agenda.”

Decommissioning, on the other hand, will “effectively demobilize former combatants and account for their firearms,” which will in turn “bring them into the mainstream of enterprise as well as meaningful social and political participation.”

Archbishop Villegas also called for vigilance in the passage of the law and stressed the need for consultations in the process, saying the CBCP will be submitting their position paper on the Bangsamoro to Congress.

“We appreciate the Conference’s calls for greater consultations,” Deles added. “A large number of consultations have already been held and are still being held not only by the peace panels but also by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and both chambers of Congress. The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro has recently finished its 36th and final public consultation, while consultations in the Senate are still ongoing.”

“For the government’s peace panel alone, I understand that we have been able to conduct no less than 400 consultations already since 2010,” Deles added. “These extensive consultations were held with many different stakeholders and at varying levels.”

Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Rufus Rodriguez has previously noted that the consultations held for the Bangsamoro Basic Law are among the most extensive in the history of the Philippine legislature.

The proposed BBL, filed as House Bill 4994 in the House of Representatives and Senate Bill 2804, is the enabling law of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed between GPH and MILF in March of last year. It aims to establish a Bangsamoro region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (OPAPP)

No comments:

Post a Comment