WE ARE near the final leg of reforming and updating the autonomy parameters for Muslim Mindanao through the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). It is very likely President Duterte will sign the BBL just hours before his State of the Nation Address next week, right after the Senate and House ratify the bicameral conference committee report in the morning. That is the necessary formality.
The BBL is now on record one of the most meticulously examined, written and rewritten pieces of legislation ever to go through Congress. There is no such thing as a perfect bill or law. BBL was crafted by a 17th Congress fully aware of the previous constitutional challenges hurled at earlier attempts to reform the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and address ancestral domain issues. Congress did its homework and did what it could for the BBL.
Filipino Muslims are resilient. They have survived great adversities in life over the centuries. They were in the Philippines long before the Spanish colonizers came. Now is not the time for fear of the other. Let us give peace in Muslim Mindanao a chance. Let us set aside decades and centuries of animosity, distrust, and enmity among us.
There a misguided few who still want to wage war. We are now weary and tired of war. We want peace and progress, not death and misery. Alexander Pope, the great English philosopher, said it best: For forms of government let fools contest, that which is best administered is best.
We have tried the ARMM solution and it yield mixed results, but mostly extremely disappointing results. The ARMM is longer overdue for overhaul. It simply is not working the way it should.
But real success of the BBL relies mostly on electing competent, faithful, and courageous leaders into office. Training for aspiring local officials, voter education for residents, capability-building mechanisms on the ground, empowered watchdogs to keep officials in check, and fair law enforcement are what will truly bring Muslim Mindanao forward to prosperity, inclusive economic growth, and genuine political change.
Again, let us find ways instead of shutting doors and windows.
