BARMM wants seat in anti-terrorism body
With the enactment of the anti-terrorism bill despite concerns over how the new measure will affect Filipino Muslims, the Bangsamoro government said it is ready to work with the national government on its implementation.
In a statement, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim — also known as Al Haj Murad — said the Bangsamoro Transition Authority trusts President Rodrigo Duterte “will ensure that the concerns and apprehensions of the Ban gs a moro people on some provisions of the law will not happen .”
He said the Bangsamoro government is ready to engage the national government “as we collectively explore new potential approaches to holistically protect our people from the menace of terrorism.” He said “this engagement can start with the Bangsamoro having representation in the Anti-Terrorism Council.”
But this representation is not contained in Republic Act 11479, or The AntiTerrorism Act of 2020.
Under the law, the ATC is chaired by the executive secretary and includes the national security adviser and the secretaries of the following departments:
• Foreign Affairs
• National Defense
• Interior and Local Government
• Finance
• Justice
• Information and Communications Technology
The executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council is also on the ATC, the body tasked with implementing the country’s policies against terrorism.
The BARMM is represented on the ATC-Program Management Center, which the law describes as “the main coordinating and program management arm of the ATC.”
The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos will be a support agency of the ATC. Bangsamoro leaders who raised concerns over provisions in the bill stressed that they agree that there should be a more stringent law against terrorism but that this should not be at the expense of basic human rights.
They also said that discussions on the bill seemed to have excluded the context and realities of Filipino Muslims and the Bangsamoro region, which they said have suffered both from acts of terrorism and from abuse during the government operations against terrorism.