BY SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – Amendments to the Constitution may be introduced to implement some provisions in the peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said chief government peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.
“From the beginning it was very clear that the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will pass through regular legislation in Congress and therefore must fall within the parameters of the Constitution,” Ferrer said.
They have been trying “to stretch these parameters” to accommodate the points in the BBL, “in addition to what have been put in the signed documents,” however, Ferrer said, “it is very clear we cannot overstep the boundaries of the Constitution. “
The Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) has been given the mandate to recommend changes in the Constitution to accommodate “all those ideas”, Ferrer said.
Ferrer said the draft BBL may no longer be submitted to Congress in time for the opening of its session next week.
“All of us want the BBL draft to be submitted to Congress as soon as possible. But we cannot substitute haste with prudence. Whatever delay we are experiencing now is intended to avoid further difficulties after the bill is submitted to Congress,” Ferrer said.
The government wants a BBL “that can withstand political and legal scrutiny and be acceptable to various stakeholders, and the nation as a whole,” she added.
Another meeting between President Benigno Aquino III and MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim has been arranged this week to settle the differences.
The meeting “will give opportunity for both leaders to thresh out issues and concerns being brought forward,” said Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
The President and the MILF chairman have expressed “commitment and determination” to ensure the passage of the BBL following the signing of the peace deal last March, Coloma said./PN
