Lawmakers asked to hasten RA 11054 amendment

COTABATO CITY: Members of the Insider Mediators (IM) are calling on the House of Representatives and Senate of the Philippines to fasttrack the proposed bills amending Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law that would extend the Bangsamoro transition period until 2025.

In a press conference held Friday in Cagayan de Oro City, IM member Archie Buaya said “Kung walang extension, lahat ng nasimulan ng Bangsamoro Government ay mapipigil, mawawala ang pinaghirapan (If there is no extension, all what have been started for the Bangsamoro Government will be stopped and those that we sacrificed for will be gone also).”

“Walang ibang option sa tingin naming mga katutubo kundi suportahan ang extension (There is no other option for us the indigenous people but to support the extension),” added Buaya who is also of Confederated Descendants of Rajah Mamalu, an indigenous peoples’ organization.

Together with Buaya were his fellow IM members such as Secretary General lawyer Mary Ann Arnado of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (who attended via zoom), Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament Deputy Speaker Omar Yasser Sema, and Parliament Members Rasul Ismael and Jose Lorena.

“This issue is not just about politics, this issue is intergenerational. That’s why we need to make a noise,” Arnado said.

Meanwhile, the online petition urging President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent senate and house bills seeking to extend the Bangsamoro transition period has earned 535,953 signatures as of March 2.

Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) and Civil Society Organizations Movement for Moral Governance launched the petition on February 10.

“Considering the very limited session days remaining in Congress before it adjourns sine die on June 4, 2021, there is a need to certify the pending bills calling for the extension of the transition period so that it can be given more prominence and a sense of urgency given the equally important and competing concerns of Congress,” the petition stated.

“Mahalaga itong pag-issue ng certificate of urgency in the house and in the senate considering that we have a very limited window for the session in congress,” Atty. Mary Ann Arnado of MPC said.

She also said that Mindanao State University, Cotabato City State Polytechnic College, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Ateneo De Davao University, Xavier University — Ateneo de Cagayan, and other academic institutions have signified their support to the petition.