Bangsamoro Basic Law: The Moros Arduous Path to Peace

17 excruciating years, 204 months of bloodied journey, or 6120 days of blatant display of violence. And this are all for: justice, identity, political sovereignty, integral development, or Peace? Regardless of the cause, it has been a bloodied outcry. People’s life were taken, their future were shattered for they live in fear and astrayed beliefs. These people are called moro- our Muslim brothers.

Their thirst for justice, peace and independence started 300 years ago according to history. Who they are now is a product of what they have been through. To name a few: their brothers by faith were murdered due to the reckless adventurism of Marcos in Sabah which is known to many as the Jabiddah massacre; the massacre of the muslims  in Bud Dajo and Bud Bagsak in Jolo by the americans which is known to non-muslim Filipinos yet they did nothing to prevent such tragic accident from proceeding; and one possible reasons according to Fr. Tabora is the homesteading policies from the north which ultimately deprived Muslim and Lumad Mindanaoans of their lands.

In light of these incidents, the moros felt antagonized, betrayed and mocked by the government yet they were wornout out of living in fear, agony and violence. So they desired instead to be partners for peace with the government. To achieve such desire, they are pushing through the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

The BBL now is subject to scrutiny by the people due to the Mamasapano incident or misencounter according to Iqbal. It is also under thorough review in the senate because some find the BBL to be unconstitutional. PhilConsa is questioning the validity of the BBL provision which is “To establish an asymmetrical political relationship of Bangsamoro with the central government founded on the principles of ‘subsidiarity’ and ‘parity of system’ is an oxymoron.” For him it looks like the provision will pave the way for the Bangsamoro entity to be equal or have more powers than the government. Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the 75-member House ad hoc committee on the BBL admits that the creation of a separate Commission on Audit (COA), Civil Service Commission (CSC), and Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the proposed autonomous region is unconstitutional. Despite the vehement objections, the constitutional framers of the law opines that  the BBL is constitutional because “the core principle of the 1987 Constitution in mandating a special status for the autonomous regions is the human development of the people of Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras. Hence, the public conversation should not be about semantics but about people – their needs, their aspirations, their choices – and about empowering them with the environment and institutional framework for social justice.”

 With the equally convincing arguments of the opposing parties, I was left at the center of a cross-road. Since I respect the integrity of our justice system, I have high hopes to our intelligent and versed senators, and I unconditionally trust the government, then I will leave the matter unto their sound discretion.