Now the hard work begins

August 1, 2018 Opinion Sideglance

Now that the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), officially called the “Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” has been signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte the real had work for the realization and creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region has begun.

It will certainly take a lot of effort on the part of those who fought for the approval of the BOL, particularly the leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) such as MILF Vice Chairman Ghazali Jaafar, who also chairs the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) and MILF Chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, to start convincing those who will be subjected to and covered under the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to accept the new law.

On the part of MILF chair Murad he had already announced to the media that the 30,000 to 40,000 armed fighters of their rebel organization is prepared to decommission (lay down their arms) if the autonomy deal will be fully enforced. That is to say of course that the BOL will be approved in the plebiscite to be undertaken, a Bangsamoro government will be created which is parliamentary-democratic in structure and the Bangsamoro region will be established.

The decommissioning part is important since the MILF rebels continue to hold on to their weapons of war and the achievement of lasting peace in Mindanao will never be really realized with the threat of armed violence hanging like a Damocles sword on the head of the government.

Another serious concern is the scenario that what if the BOL will not be ratified by the people concerned through the plebiscite to be conducted so that the law will be implemented? If that happens then certainly everything will be back to square one and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will continue to be administered under the ARMM law. What about the MILF? They might perceive the failure to approve the BOL through a plebiscite as some sort of betrayal and might just renew their efforts to agitate once more for changes to address their concerns, grievances and sentiments in a violent way.

This is what the government is trying to avoid. Although there is a cessation of hostilities in place at the moment between the government forces and the MILF there will never be an assurance that it will remain that way considering the presence and availability of weaponry still in the hands of the MILF fighters.

Another concern is the MNLF group which is also trying to jockey for recognition and influence in the South. Until now there has been no coherent and recognizable cooperation and coordination between the MILF and the MNLF towards the establishment of a common ground that will unite them in accepting the BOL and the eventual creation of the BARMM in the event the result of the soon to be conducted plebiscite will favor the said law.

Right now everyone in Congress is celebrating for the ratification of the BOL and the signing of the President of the said law but nonetheless it must be reiterated that for the said law to be implemented the concerned stakeholders give their consent and this is where the real work is to be found. A massive information dissemination about the BOL should be done immediately and this should not be done only in the South but in the entire archipelago.

Not only that but the leaders in both the MILF and the government should be seen in public partnering closely together as they blaze the campaign trail to convince the people concerned that the BOL is what is needed to finally attain lasting peace in development in Mindanao.