By
Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA
CITY – The amendment done by Congress to the “opt-in anytime”
provision of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), now known as the Basic Law
for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region will ensure the city’s exclusion to the
Bangsamoro.
Thus,
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Undersecretary
Jose Lorena declared, “this forecloses the possibility of Zamboanga City to be
included.”
Recently,
Congress made certain amendments to the draft BBL, which maintains that
contiguous Bangsamoro areas should only cover land, and not sea. Zamboanga City
Congressman Celso Lobregat has been pushing for this and other amendments with
regards to the opt-in anytime provision.
Had
the amendment not been made, the city could anytime be made a part of the
Bangsamoro through a plebiscite since it is contiguous to the nearby island
provinces of Basilan, which is also part of the Bangsamoro.
Many
Zamboangueños have been concerned over the original provision, given that they
have constantly expressed not to be part of the Bangsamoro now or anytime in
the future.
According
to Usec. Lorena, only three provinces are now contiguous areas after the
amended provision which includes Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sultan
Kudarat.
Meanwhile,
he said that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is still very optimistic
on the passage of the bill. However, in the event that the bill will not be
passed anytime soon, “the MILF will not be going back to ‘one’”. “The MILF and
the Bangsamoro Development Authority has already engaged the European Union,
Norway and other countries for trade,” he said, which is an indication of their
commitment to promote peace and development in the region.
“The
South is a gateway to the ASEAN,” Usec. Lorena said, “that is why we must
ensure that there is peace and stability in the region.”
He
had emphasized that presently, Mindanao has already attained a level of peace,
and the primary purpose of the BBL is to ensure a “long lasting peace” in the
region.
