House seeks safe conduct pass for Misuari, Kato

MANILA, Philippines – Committees in both chambers of Congress tasked to deliberate the proposed law creating a new autonomous region in Mindanao want authorities to temporarily suspend the warrants of arrest for rebel leaders to allow them to participate in the deliberations. 

Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the special committee in the House of Representatives that will discuss the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, said he has spoken to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima about his proposal. 

“Secretary De Lima said she has an open mind. The decision will be up to the discretion of the court and she told us that the proposal should be made in writing,” Rodriguez told Rappler.  

Rodriguez and his counterpart in the Senate, Senate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, want Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) founder Umra Kato to attend public hearings on the proposed law.

The bill is a product of the final peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). 

Both the Misuari and Kato have rejected the peace agreement and continued to push for an independent region.

The MNLF signed a peace accord with the government in 1996, but maintains that the agreement has yet to be fully implemented. The MILF broke away from the MNLF in the 1970s at the height of the conflict between government forces and Muslim rebels due to differences between Misuari and other leaders.

The BIFF, meanwhile, is a splinter group of the MILF. It broke off from the group after the Supreme Court declared the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domains (MOA-AD) between the MILF and the Arroyo administration as unconstitutional. 

Rodriguez said he will also ask Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin to approve a 5-day safe conduct pass for both Misuari and Kato to give them their opportunity to air their concerns on the Bangsamoro bill, which stakeholders hope would finally put an end to 4 decades of war in Mindanao.  

Rodriguez sought to clarify that suspending their warrants of arrest would have no effect on pending cases against the two.  

“We only want the warrant to not be implemented while the safe conduct pass is in effect so they or their representatives can participate in the discussion. During this time, they will be under the custody of the House of Representatives,” Rodriguez said. 

Misuari is facing charges for the 2013 siege of Zamboanga that killed over 100 people. Umra Kato, who has long been rumored to be ailing, is facing charges over the 2008 hostilities resulting from the SC decision on the MOA-AD.  

The Bangsamoro Basic Law seeks to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with a new government that has greater political and fiscal autonomy. 

Although it is a product of the peace agreement between the government and the MILF, the autonomous government that will be established will not be limited to the MILF. 

Deliberations in Congress on the Bangsamoro Basic Law could serve as a venue for the concerns of the MILF, the MNLF and the BIFF to reach a common ground. 

Hearings in Mindanao, too

The first public hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Law will be held on Wednesday, September 24. The Senate is also expected to conduct its own briefing on the same week, Marcos earlier said. 

Members of the House special committee will meet on Tuesday, September 16, to approve their internal rules and timeline. 

Aside from holding marathon hearings in Manila, the 75-member ad hoc House committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law will hold simultaneous public hearings in Mindanao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, provinces under the ARMM, as well as Davao City. 

To fast-track deliberations, all 8 vice chairpersons of the 75-member ad hoc committee will divide the responsibility among themselves. Rodriguez said hearings will also be held during scheduled sessions breaks in September to October and in November. 

Rodriguez said he hopes to put the bill to a vote at the committee level by November 30. 

At the top of the committee’s considerations is the constitutionality of the proposed law – an issue that had also hounded peace panels from the start up to the final stages of discussions. 

During the negotiations, the MILF was of the position that real autonomy in Mindanao can’t be entrenched without amending the Constitution. The government, meanwhile, negotiated for a final peace accord under the direction that it must be implemented without the need for charter change.  

The same issue delayed the submission of the Bangsamoro bill in Congress after the MILF accused Malacañang of diluting the first version of the basic law when it was submitted to President Benigno Aquino III for review. 

Malacañang and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, led by MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, said they believe the proposed law, as well as the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro which it is based from, is “within the flexibilities of the Constitution.”

Guests to be invited in the Wednesday hearing include presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, who played a key role during crucial moments in the talks, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Deles, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the government peace panel. 

Rodriguez said he and Marcos had considered holding joint hearings to fast-track discussions but the “sheer number” of House members who will be involved in the deliberations made them decide to hold separate hearings instead. 

At the Senate, Senate President Franklin Drilon said there is “strong bipartisan support” for the bill. 

A total of 13 senators, including 4 members of the minority and 9 members of the majority, signed as co-authors of the bill, which was formally filed at the Senate Monday, September 15. The House version was filed on Thursday, September 11. 

Congress is under pressure to pass the basic law by 2015 to give the MILF-led transitional body at least one year to lead the transition toward the Bangsamoro. 

Both the MILF and the govenrment want the Bangsamoro to be installed by 2016 before Aquino steps down from office. 

Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr earlier said Congress can pass the bill by the first quarter of 2016. 

Under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the MILF agreed to decommission rebel firearms in exchange for political commitments towards the creation of a new autonomous government, including the passage of the law. 

Once the Bangsamoro Basic Law is approved in Congress and through a plebiscite, the ARMM will be deemed abolished. – Rappler.com