PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has assured the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) remains a priority of his administration, Malacañang said Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that during a meeting at Malacañang Palace last Monday, the President allayed the concern of the MILF that the draft BBL is not among the priority measures.
"PRRD met with the leadership of MILF yesterday to discuss, among others, their concern about social media posts critical of their handling and the progress of their BBL bill," Abella told Palace reporters.
"The President assured them that he considers this [as] high priority and vital to the future of Mindanao and the nation," he added.
Duterte met MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, MILF vice chair and Bangsamoro Transition Committee (BTC) chair Ghazali Jaafar, MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagber Iqbal, BTC commissioner Abdularaof Macacua, and BTC executive director Esmael Pasigan at Malacañang last Monday.
They were also joined by Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Jesus Dureza, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., acting Local Government Secretary Catalino Cuy, and Abella during the meeting.
Prior to this, the MILF issued a statement on Saturday, lamenting the government’s “noncompliance” with the signed peace agreements with the rebel group as no lawmaker has sponsored the draft Moro law.
"Even the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is the legal interpretation of the FAB (Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro) and CAB (Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro), has no sponsor in Congress up to this time," the MILF said.
"Worse, it is not listed as one of the 14 priority legislations of Congress during the recent Legislative-Development Authority Council meeting last August 29," it added.
Last Monday, Malacañang said the draft BBL will be tackled in the next meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council set on September 20.
Abella said Duterte was considering holding a meeting with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to pave way for the swift passage of the proposed BBL.
"He's asking to meet with the Senate President and the Speaker of the House to facilitate the process," he said. (SunStar Philippines)