Duterte open to amendments to Bangsamoro law

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has expressed willingness to review and propose amendments to the contentious provisions in the recently-signed Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to make it acceptable to all Filipinos, Malacañang said on Monday, July 30.

“You know, nothing is perfect. And of course, the BOL signed into law is a result of compromise. So all that the President was saying was, if you have specific complaints, we’re open to discuss[ing] these complaints with a view of possibly amending further the law,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. told Palace reporters.

“But I think the general sentiment of the President is if there are those who want to object because of specific revisions, we’re open to reviewing the specific provisions,” he added.

On July 27, Duterte signed the much-awaited BOL, formerly known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law, that will create the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in place of the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The BOL, however, did not bear the signature of House Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo.

But Roque said Arroyo’s failure to sign the law was not a problem, stressing that it would be “easily cured.”

The signing of the Bangsamoro law, or Republic Act (RA) 11054, is among Duterte’s campaign promises to allow Moro people to enjoy self-governance over their territories in the southern Philippines.