Joint govt-MNLF panel drafts bill to amend ARMM law

A joint legal panel of the government and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has drafted a bill that seeks to amend the law creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said the government and MNLF arrived at "common grounds" in proposing modifications to Republic Act 9054. "The panel’s draft bill and report were initialed by the joint secretariat over the weekend at the Indonesian Embassy, and will be presented in the Fourth Tripartite Meeting," the OPAPP said in a statement on its website Monday. Jointly leading the legal panel were former MNLF chairman Nur Misuari and Justice Undersecretary Leah Armamento. The government and the MNLF entered into a peace agreement in 1996. Misuari served as ARMM governor from that year to 2001 but his term was marred with controversies, with senior leaders of the MNLF — collectively known as the Council of 15 — accusing him of incompetence. In Nov. 2001, on the eve of ARMM elections, Misuari accused the government of reneging on the peace agreement. He then led attacks in Sulu and Zamboanga City, where more than 100 people were killed. He subsequently escaped by boat to Malaysia but was arrested there and deported to the Philippines where he was charged with rebellion. The case was dismissed by the Makati Regional Trial Court in December 2009. Common grounds Presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles, meanwhile, lauded the legal panel for sharing their “effort and expertise" for “a more satisfactory implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement." “Almost 22 months to date from the Third Tripartite Meeting, we are glad that the Legal Panel – jointly led by Professor Nur Misuari and Undersecretary of Justice Leah Armamento – has found such common grounds and transformed to legal form the common proposals and common grounds," she said. Deles expressed her gratitude to the Organization of Islamic Conference, particularly the Peace Committee on Southern Philippines and its member-states, for their support to this endeavor. “Such concern, attention and effort definitely and concretely contribute to the establishment and nourishment of an enabling environment for the sustained peace and development in Southern Philippines," she said. Deles thanked the Indonesian Embassy in Manila for hosting the meetings of the legal panel. The government-MNLF legal panel was formed based on the agreement during the Third Tripartite Meeting among the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Philippine government and MNLF on March 13, 2009. The panel has been tasked to transform the common proposals of the two parties into legal form and arrive at common grounds on the issues for further study. It held meetings to review proposed modifications to RA 9054, and discuss other items for further study, such as the implementation of the agreement to set up the Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund (BDAF); and the tripartite monitoring of the implementation of the peace pact. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV