MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 7, 2014) – Congressman Carlos Zarate chided the Aquino government for committing something in its negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that in eventually it cannot deliver.
“Ang lumalabas ngayon mukhang pinaasa lang ng Malacanang ang mga kapatid nating Moro sa kasunduang nalagdaan na para lang may masabing mayroong legacy si Pangulong Aquino kahit na hindi naman nila kayang bigyan ng tunay na autonomiya ang Bangsamoro,” Zarate said.
He said Malacañang has returned the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law with many comments and revisions that practically nothing has been left unchanged in the original document that the Bangsamoro Transition Commission submitted April 22 to President Benigno Aquino.
The MILF said the drafted law was practically mangled by the revisions proposed by the Office of the President. The comments and revisions supposedly veered away from the four annexes of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which are “the heart and soul” of the two parties’ peace agreement signed last March 27.
“While we await the final outcome of the long delayed review process, it would be well for the Moro people to be critical and continuously be wary of the government’s double-speak as it pushes for a measure that will not actually solve the historical wrongs committed against the Bangsamoro,” Zarate said.
“One-sidedly revising the agreed contents of the Bangsamoro Basic Law is an insincere and lopsided act by the Aquino government; it is not in accord with the quest for genuine peace in Mindanao. In the end, the Moro people’s continuing struggle for self-determination is what will truly facilitate genuine development and lasting peace in the Bangsamoro,” he added.
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