Bangsamoro seeks 3 more

years for transition

Interim gov’t says initial 3-year period too short for establishing new autonomous region

By: Sheila Mae Dela Cruz - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:06 AM November 19, 2020

COTABATO CITY—The interim Bangsamoro parliament has asked Congress to

extend the transition period of the expanded autonomous government for
another three years after its lapse in 2022.

“The [current] transition period is [too] short, [considering that] we are

establishing a new entity,” said Jose Lorena, a member of the Bangsamoro
parliament and one of the main authors of the resolution seeking the extension.

Once Congress extends the transition period, the schedule of the first regular
election in the Bangsamoro will be moved to 2025 The Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), an expanded autonomous region created
upon the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in 2019, is the
outcome of the comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after years of negotiations.
Member of Parliament Omar Yasser Sema said the Bangsamoro Transition
Commission, which drafted the law, had proposed a six-year transition period, but
Congress granted only three years.
While the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has taken significant strides in
its service as the interim government, the three-year transition period from 2019 to
2022 is not enough to accomplish its targets, according to the resolution passed
unanimously on Tuesday.
An extension of three years would allow the BARMM sufficient time to fulfill its
mandate, the resolution said.
Governance, normalization
“I stand here not to ask for my extension but for the extension of the transition
period,” Lorena said.
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim, during the FactsFirst
podcast, “Pressure on Bangsamoro,” on Nov. 13, said the peace process between
the government and the MILF covered the “governance track,” which included the
setting up of the Bangsamoro government and its organization; and the
normalization track, which covered the decommissioning of the Bangsamoro
Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the dismantling of private armies and the setting up
of a police force in the region.
“Also covered under the normalization track would be the rehabilitation of existing
combatants after they were decommissioned and this would include their
amnesty,” Ebrahim said in the podcast.
“We think that if the elections would push through in 2022 in the BARMM, the
normalization track would be sidelined and would not get implemented. This
would be a big problem,” he said.
P1-M economic package
Ebrahim said each of the initial 12,000 decommissioned BIAF combatants had yet
to receive the P1-million economic package promised them by the national
government in exchange for their peaceful return to civilian life.
COTABATO CITY—The interim Bangsamoro parliament has asked Congress to
extend the transition period of the expanded autonomous government for another
three years after its lapse in 2022.
“The [current] transition period is [too] short, [considering that] we are establishing
a new entity,” said Jose Lorena, a member of the Bangsamoro parliament and one
of the main authors of the resolution seeking the extension.
Once Congress extends the transition period, the schedule of the first regular
election in the Bangsamoro will be moved to 2025 The Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), an expanded autonomous region created
upon the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in 2019, is the
outcome of the comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after years of negotiations.
Member of Parliament Omar Yasser Sema said the Bangsamoro Transition
Commission, which drafted the law, had proposed a six-year transition period, but
Congress granted only three years.
While the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has taken significant strides in
its service as the interim government, the three-year transition period from 2019 to
2022 is not enough to accomplish its targets, according to the resolution passed
unanimously on Tuesday.
An extension of three years would allow the BARMM sufficient time to fulfill its
mandate, the resolution said.
Governance, normalization
“I stand here not to ask for my extension but for the extension of the transition
period,” Lorena said.
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim, during the FactsFirst
podcast, “Pressure on Bangsamoro,” on Nov. 13, said the peace process between
the government and the MILF covered the “governance track,” which included the
setting up of the Bangsamoro government and its organization; and the
normalization track, which covered the decommissioning of the Bangsamoro
Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the dismantling of private armies and the setting up
of a police force in the region.
“Also covered under the normalization track would be the rehabilitation of existing
combatants after they were decommissioned and this would include their
amnesty,” Ebrahim said in the podcast.
“We think that if the elections would push through in 2022 in the BARMM, the
normalization track would be sidelined and would not get implemented. This
would be a big problem,” he said.
P1-M economic package
Ebrahim said each of the initial 12,000 decommissioned BIAF combatants had yet
to receive the P1-million economic package promised them by the national
government in exchange for their peaceful return to civilian life.
A total of 40,000 former MILF combatants had been targeted for
decommissioning, he said.
“Until now, [the promised economic package] has not been released. How do we
convince the next batch of combatants [who would be decommissioned]?” he
asked.
Mohagher Iqbal, head of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education in
the Bangsamoro who attended the parliament’s session online, agreed that the
three-year transition period was short.
“Just imagine, 17 long years of negotiations, can we implement what has been in
the law for just three years? It’s just right that we have to pass this resolution,”
Iqbal said.
For the people
“[This is] not a self-serving exercise but [one that will be] for the benefit of our
people. It is part of our assertion that we have to finish well what we have started,”
he added.
The Mindanao People’s Caucus (MPC), a team from a network of civil society
organizations commissioned to do the rapid midterm review of the Bangsamoro
transition, also recommended the extension of the transition period.
According to MPC, the pandemic has robbed the BTA of the chance to implement
effectively its programs, projects and services.
The provincial boards of Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao and the League of
Municipalities Tawi-Tawi chapter also urged Congress to extend the transition
period by rescheduling the first election of the parliament from May 2022 to May
2025.
The BOL provides for the immediate dissolution of the BTA once the first set of
elected officials in the BARMM assumes office.

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