Iqbal exhorts HoR to stick with the version of Bangsamoro Law crafted by BTC

• Aug 26, 2017
• Al Iskandar, Luwaran
• HITS: 1559

Mohaqher Iqbal, the Chief Peace Negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), exhorted the House to stick with the version of the BBL as submitted by the BTC that, he said, was “reflective of the true aspiration of the Bangsamoro people, News5 Interaksyon said in its online post on August 22, 2017.

In a message at the launch of the book “Beyond Peace Tables: Reflections on the GPH-MILF Peace Process” authored by the late Dato Tengku Abdul Ghafar, who was Malaysian Third Party facilitator for the GPH-MILF Peace Process for many years on August 19 at Camp Darapanan, Iqbal said, “For the sake of just and lasting peace and development, we urge our honorable legislators to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law submitted by the BTC”.

Iqbal also asked Congress on Tuesday to “work around the flexibility of law” in tackling the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that is aimed at ending decades of rebellion and achieve lasting peace in the Mindanao region.

He added: “Any other proposed bill, like or similar or lesser than RA 9054 that created the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), runs counter to the agreements of the parties and, more seriously, will only prolong the sufferings and agonies of the people”, News5 Interaksyon said in its online report.

“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to our esteemed legislators who are present today to look at the Bangsamoro problem as a political and not a purely legal issue,” he said, elaborating that some Philippine Constitution luminaries see the charter as a political document.

“So, the interpretation is not strictly legal but political,” he said.

 “The bottom line is, as Congress goes through this legislative process concerning the proposed BBL of the BTC, we ask that our honorable legislators go by what will achieve justice, and what will achieve the purpose of justice. This means having to work around the flexibility of law,” he said. (Source: News5 Interaksyon)

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