Abusive ‘trapos’ off-limits to TC

Transition Commission must have 30% women members who directly come from conflict-affected areas and a representative from the indigenous peoples

THE Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) should not appoint abusive “traditional politicians” in the 15-man Transition Commission (TC) that will craft the basic law of the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).

This was the call of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC), a grassroots network of indigenous, Bangsamoro and Christian settlers from the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.

The group has set six-point criteria for the Transition Commission.

MPC said that the commission must be composed of men and women with proven track record in human rights, peace-building and support to the GPHMILF peace talks.

“It must consider individuals who have no conflict of interest in the roadmap of the transition period. Thus, it must avoid as much as possible appointing traditional politicians who represent that abusive, warlord-led and already unacceptable status quo that the framework agreement seeks to replace,” MPC said.

Consistent with the National Action Plan of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the TC must have at least 30 percent women members who directly come from conflict-affected areas and with clearly identified constituency to represent.

Representation

A representative from the indigenous peoples must also be appointed in the commission in order to ensure that their rights are heard and protected.

This representative must be chosen on the basis of consensus-building among the indigenous peoples leaders with special focus on those tribes that are directly affected, for example the Teduray, Dulangan Manobo, Arumanen, B’laan and Higaonon tribes.

With the TC to be composed of 15, all-Moro members, it must ensure that the geographic areas of the Bangsamoro must be represented especially those coming from the island-provinces.