Sultanates, IPs given chance to air sentiments at Senate hearing on BBL

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr started hearing Monday the voices of different sultanates and indigenous people in Mindanao who were allegedly not consulted by the government when it created the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

 

Marcos, chairman of the local government committee, said the support of the sultanates and the IPs are important if ever the BBL will be passed and implemented.

 

“The hearing today is a result of the shocking revelation that the sultanates of Mindanao have not been consulted in any of the negotiations of the government with the MILF. If the BBL will be successful, it will need the support of all the sultanates and IPs. We are trying to rectify that mistake,” he said in his opening statement.

 

“This is a part of the series that this committee is undertaking for the specific purpose of giving voice to the stakeholders of the Bangsamoro. It is better to hear them than to debate with them. They have been left out of the process,” Marcos added.

 

Among those present in the hearing were the Council of Royal Datus, Council of Royal Ladies, Sultanate of Maguindanao, Iranun Sultanates League of the Philippines, Federation of Royal Sultanate Descendants of Mindanao Sulu and Palawan, The Heirs of Sultan Mohammad Esmael Organization, Inc., Maguindanao Mandanaue Darussalam, Federation of the Royal Sultanate of Lanao, Sultan Uko Royal Descendants Associations, Inc. (SORODA), The Royale House of Maharadjah Tabunaway, Bangsamoro Royal Houses Solidarity Conference and the Sultanate of Bayang, Lanao del Sur.

 

Also in attendance are the Timuay Justice and Governance, Gempa te Kelindaan ne Kamal ne Erumanen ne Menuvu, Mindanao Indigenous Peoples’ Peace Forum, Lumad Mindanawed  Peoples’ Federation, Organization of Teduray and Lambangian Conference  and the Sulu Foundation of Nine Ethnic Tribes, Inc. (SUFONETI).

 

The BBL is a result of the government peace negotiation with the MILF. It is expected to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. —KG, GMA News