Sarangani, 6 other provinces won’t be part of Bangsamoro region
The envisioned new Bangsamoro autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao will not include Sarangani, which is represented by world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, and six other provinces including Palawan, which is part of Luzon.
“They are not included in the core geographical area of the planned Bangsamoro region. They are not also qualified to join it under the opt-in provision, even if they want to,” Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the ad hoc committee on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), told The
STAR yesterday. Under the opt-in provision, Rodriguez said local government units (LGUs) contiguous to the new Muslim region and covered by the 1976 Tripoli Agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) are qualified to join the Bangsamoro area.
A petition by the LGU or 10 percent of its voters starts the process of inclusion, which has to be approved by the electorate in the entire province or city affected, he said.
“So aside from the petition, there are two requirements for opt-in: contiguous to the Bangsamoro region and covered by the Tripoli Agreement. Definitely, Sarangani and South Cotabato, including General Santos City, Palawan, and the three Zamboanga provinces are not contiguous to the new autonomous region,” he said.
The three Zamboanga provinces are Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay.
A check with Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) showed that Davao del Sur, which includes Davao City and Digos City, is also not contiguous to the planned Bangsamoro constituency.
“The provinces contiguous to ARMM are North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Sultan Kudarat. The Zamboanga provinces are contiguous to Basilan in terms of waters or the sea, but if you talk of land mass, they are not, because we are an island,” Hataman, who comes from Basilan, said.
ARMM is composed of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur.
The original 13 provinces covered by the Tripoli Agreement are those in the ARMM area, plus Palawan, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, and Davao del Sur.
Since the government signed the agreement with Nur Misuari’s MNLF, two provinces have been created: Sarangani out of South Cotabato and Zamboanga Sibugay out of the Zamboanga peninsula.
The proposed BBL is the product of years of peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a splinter group of the MNLF.
Last week, Pacquiao said his province should not be included in the proposed Bangsamoro region.
“The inclusion of Sarangani and other parts of Mindanao may cause instability and further complicate our search for lasting peace in the region,” he said.
However, he said he recognizes the need to have a law that would promote peace and development in Mindanao.
Rep. Carol Jane Lopez of party-list group You Against Corruption and Poverty, who comes from General Santos City, said their city and South Cotabato “will never be part of the Bangsamoro region.”
For his part, Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Seth Frederick Jalosjos said, “We have opted out of the Muslim region in two previous plebiscites. The will of our people should be respected.”
Under the draft BBL, aside from the five ARMM provinces, the proposed Bangsamoro “geographical area” would include the cities of Marawi, the towns of Baloi, Munai,Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan, and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte, and several barangays in North Cotabato. These LGUs have all voted to be part of ARMM in 2001. The Bangsamoro region would also include Cotabato City, which is part of Maguindanao and the seat of ARMM, and Isabela City in Basilan.
In the 2001 plebiscite, the voters of Cotabato City and Isabela City opted out of the ARMM.
Vice President Jejomar Binay said on Wednesday that the BBL should adhere to the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
Binay also said the BBL should retain and protect the sovereignty of the country.
“I hope that this peace agreement will be in consonance with our Constitution, with our laws and our territorial sovereignty,” Binay said, and that the BBL should also include the protection of the interest of the indigenous peoples.
More debates on BBL
Congressmen belonging to the 40-member Party-List Coalition urged the House of Representatives yesterday to allow exhaustive debates on the proposed BBL.
In a statement, the coalition said its members have decided to defer their decision on whether to support or reject the draft BBL “until the termination of the plenary deliberations.”
“We have reached this decision because we believe the BBL is so vital a measure with complex issues and tremendous impact not only on the lives of the Bangsamoro people but on all of us Filipinos,” it said.
It said its members would not vote on the basis of their alliance with the Liberal Party-led majority coalition in the House.
“Rather, we have unanimously agreed that we should decide based on a well-informed and prudent exercise of discretion with no master but our conscience and the interests of our constituents,” it added.
Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe, the coalition’s spokesman, said they would actively participate in the plenary debates on the draft BBL that start on Monday.
“This will educate us and our people on the features of the proposed law, their significance, implications, consequences, and ramifications. We shall probe, analyze and dissect the BBL so we will be able to understand the measure better and come up with an objective, balanced and fair decision,” he said.
He said their coalition is also calling on President Aquino and the Department of Justice to speed up the filing of criminal charges against the suspected killers of 44 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.
“While we all want peace, as we are now treading towards peace as authors of the BBL would like us to believe, let us also not forget to give justice to the SAF 44, whose lives were sacrificed so we may live peacefully,” he said.
He lamented that people have apparently already forgotten about the SAF 44.
“There is no more outrage, no more anger. We are slowly forgetting about the 44 policemen who lost their lives in the line of duty. Our memory is really short,” he said.
He said Filipinos should not abandon the quest for justice for the SAF 44.
The Senate and the PNP Board of Inquiry have blamed the MILF for the “massacre, murder” of the policemen.
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