MANILA, March 11 (PNA) — A Mindanao prelate is convinced that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is Constitutional and it is inspired by Catholic values and moral principles.
With this, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo urged Filipinos particularly Christians not to judge the proposed law based on the January 25 Mamasapano clash.
In a letter addressed to all Christians, Quevedo noted that under the proposed BBL, Bangsamoro self-determination will be exercised within a limited territory under the sovereignty of the Philippines, as national sovereignty and territorial integrity will be preserved, contrary to the claims of BBL critics.
“The over-all principle that governs the BBL is the Catholic moral and social principle of subsidiarity, a principle already enshrined in our own Constitution,” he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website.
The Cardinal added, “The principle requires the intervention of the national government and its various entities when the common good of all requires it. Therefore, no entity of the Bangsamoro government, such as a Bangsamoro auditing department or police force, is absolutely independent of their national counterparts.”
Congress is looking to pass the draft law of the proposed BBL this month but a recent meeting of the Upper and Lower House leaders postponed the deadline until June. It is set to adjourn on March 21 for the Holy Week but the second regular session of the 16th Congress will last until June 12.
At the same time, he called on lawmakers and Christians against letting emotions, biases and prejudices to prevail over objective reason so that the Mamasapano incident will not repeat itself.
“In the face of outrage and calls for all-out war for the manner by which our law enforcers lost their lives, I call for peace. I call for rationality rather than emotionalism. I call for justice that is not selective. I call for openness and fairness rather than bias and prejudice,” Quevedo said.
He added, “The BBL was negotiated painstakingly with stops and detours for at least five years. It is not an agreement that was hurriedly done. It fulfills the Bangsamoro aspiration for self-determination. It preserves our fundamental principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The January 25 clash between the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, which killed 44 commandos along with 18 Moro rebels and five civilians.
President Benigno Aquino III also supports the passage of the proposed BBL. (PNA)