Waterfront Insular Hotel, Lanang, Davao City|
February 24, 2017
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte led the launch of the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) held at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Lanang, Davao City.
In his speech, the President expressed his eagerness to achieve genuine peace. “We must have peace at all cost but I would like to tell you now, that as President ang gusto ko talagang mangyari ay kapayapaan but it must be one country, one nation, and one flag,” he said.
He also challenged the members of the expanded BTC regarding its vital role on the peace process.
“So I’m urging the BTC, navigate the hindrances and construction at hanapin ninyo ang daan hanggang patungo ng kapayapaan. Mahirap ‘yan, it would be a long journey but if there’s a product that is acceptable to all makikita ninyo ako, maybe in front of Filipino nation. I will ask every Filipino to vote for it because it will make us a great nation. So I leave it up to you, you know the history, you know the equation here, you know the composition of the population, you know the religions here, you know the idiosyncrasies of the tribes,” the Chief Executive stressed.
The BTC is the body that would draft the Bangsamoro enabling law. The creation of the enabling law is part of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) which was signed between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front way back in March 2014.
The commission is expected to submit the draft of the new enabling law on July of this year. The enactment of the law will create new political entity replacing the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in which it will have greater autonomy than the present ARMM but will still remain part of the Republic of the Philippines.
The 21 BTC members presented to the President are the following: Haron M. Abas, Firdausi Ismail Y. Abbas, Ibrahim D. Ali, Hussin Amin, Maisara Dandamun-Latiph, SamiraGutoc-Tomawis, Hatimil Hassan, Mohagher M. Iqbal, Ghadzali Jaafar, Raissa H. Jajurie, Gafur A. Kanain, Datu Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan, Jose I. Lorena, Abdulraof Abdul Macacua, Hussein P. Munoz, Romeo Saliga, Susana Salvador-Anayatin, Omar Yasser C. Sema, Said M. Shiek, Ammal D. Solaiman, and Melanio U. Ulama.
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