Law to create a new autonomous Muslim region in Philippines to be given priority

Senate President Franklin Drilon hopes that Congress will pass the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in Q1'15. The BBL is the enabling law of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement outlines the general features of the political settlement between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It will pave the way for the creation of a new political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and end a long-drawn insurgency in Mindanao.

"Before we tackle the 2015 national budget in mid-November, I expect that the major details of the BBL have already been fleshed-out and senators have already put forward their concerns," Drilon said in a statement dated September 7.

"We will have to terminate temporarily the discussion on the BBL to give way for the 2015 budget. But we will immediately shift discussions back to the BBL once the budget is passed by the first or second week of December."

"Today's historical event is a major step forward by our country in our bid to recognise the right of our fellow Filipinos with a culture and history of their own as everyone else's equal. This event is particularly significant to me both as a son of Mindanao and as chair of the Senate Committee on Peace and Unification," said Senator Teofisto Guingona III in a statement on September 10 on the submission of the BBL to Congress. "I state for the record the commitment of the Senate Committee on Peace and Unification to ensure that this historic and landmark piece of legislation shall be completed and passed soonest."

"We need everyone's support for the crafting of an effective and lasting basic law to the Bangsamoro in both houses. No matter our political affiliations, we are all Filipinos and we all share a desire for peace, equality and prosperity as a nation," stressed Drilon.