NEWS




10February

President Duterte names 21 members of reconstituted Bangsamoro Transition Commission

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has named the 21 members of the reconstituted Bangsamoro Transition Commission according to Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza in a statement released on Friday (Feb 10).

Members of the new BTC members are Atty. Jose I. Lorena, Atty. Maisara Dandamun-Latiph, Samira Gutoc-Tomawis, Datu Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan, Dr. Susana Salvador-Anayatin, Atty. Hussin AMIN, Romeo Saliga, Hatimil Hassan, Atty. Firdausi Ismail Y. Abbas, Atty. Omar Yasser C. Sema, Mohagher M. Iqbal, Abdulraof Abdul Macacua, Ibrahim D. Ali, Haron M. Abas, Atty. Raissa H. Jajurie, Said M. Shiek, Hussein P. Muñoz, Melanio U. Ulama, Gafur A. Kanain, Ammal D. Solaiman, Irene M. Santiago and Ghadzali Jaafar.
Iqbal, the Chair of the previous BTC said last month in a youth conference at Davao City that Ghadzali Jaafar, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) First Vice Chairman shall be the new BTC chairman.

The BTC is the body tasked to draft a Bangsamoro law that will pave the way for the establishment of a Bangsamoro political entity as envisioned in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, a peace deal inked by the Government of the Philippines and MILF in 2014.

President Duterete signed Executive Order No. 08 on November 7 last year which directs the expansion of the members of the BTC from 15 to 21.

Dureza further said that the old Bangsamoro Basic Law which the lawmakers failed to enact in the last Congress shall be the basic document.

Stakeholders of the Bangsamoro peace process are hopeful that the new BTC will hit the deadline, July this year, for the submission of the enabling law for deliberations in Congress  and ratification through a plebiscite.

The expanded B TC includes representatives from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The Government and MNLF have signed the Final Peace Agreement in 1996.