Manila – Rep. Rodolfo Biazon and Rep. Celso Lobregat on Thursday expressed their support to the pursuit of an inclusive peace process during the deliberation of the House of Representatives on the budget of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP).
“We want to make sure that peace in Mindanao will be long lasting and it will be an inclusive peace, not just with one sector,” Lobregat, Zamboanga City representative, said during his interpellation on the OPAPP budget.
Rep. Ben P. Evardone of Eastern Samar, House Committee on Appropriations Vice-chairman, sponsor of OPAPP in the budget hearing, responded that it is certainly “the aspiration of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) to pursue an inclusive and just peace.”
Lobregat also expressed support for achieving peace and development in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as it is important for the whole of Mindanao.
According to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) signed last year, the Bangsamoro will be established to replace the ARMM through the passage by Congress of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, drafted by a Transition Commission (TC), and its popular ratification through a plebiscite in the Bangsamoro envisioned territory.
On his part, Biazon underscored the importance of having enough time and sufficient monitoring during the transition towards the establishment of the Bangsamoro and its first election in 2016.
Evardone said that the “TC is cognizant of timeframe. Hopefully, early next year the basic law will be submitted to Congress.”
Saying that the GPH Peace Panel and OPAPP recognize the legislative power of Congress, Evardone said “It will be up to this chamber (the Congress) to decide on the basic law. The government panel recognizes the inherent power of Congress to enact laws that includes amendment or additions (to proposed bills).”
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