CEBU CITY, March 19 (PNA) — Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process is asking the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries to support the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
“Today I make an abiding appeal for your support to call upon your leaders, be they in government or in the private realm and all your great communities for that matter to stand for our dream of the Bangsamoro,” she said Wednesday as keynote speaker in an ASEAN workshop at the Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.
“Your voices will help to raise the consciousness of our own Philippine nation to push forward, urging our peoples to be one with the Asean and the world in embracing peace with might and passion,” she told the delegates of the two-day workshop aimed at strengthening women’s participation in peace processes.
Deles said the clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that killed 67 people, including 44 elite operatives of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, has broken the momentum of the peace process.
“After Mamasapano, the old biases, the submerged fears, and, yes, bigotry have again exploded in out body politic,” she said.
Deles said the timetable for the Bangsamoro has been derailed.
The BBL should have been on the Congressional plenary now, but the target schedule has been moved to June this year, she said.
Once the BBL is passed, a plebiscite will be done to ratify the law and then the Bangsamoro Transition Authority will be created to pave the way for the election of the first regular Bangsamoro government, which will be done simultaneously with the 2016 national elections.
Despite the new challenge, Deles said the peace process should be pursued relentlessly.
Deles stressed on the importance of support from the international community.
“When the international community stands in solidarity for a cause, certainly that will have an effect even on the way our own people think,” she said. (PNA)