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TRIBESMEN URGED TO RETURN HOME
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Teduray tribal leader has urged his fellow tribesmen - who fled more than four decades ago following the outbreak of Muslim rebellion in Mindanao- to return to their ancestral land in Mount Firis in Maguindanao province. Timuay Melanio Ulama, now a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, said it is time for the tribesmen to return to their own domain because there is now peace in Mindanao after the signing of a political deal between the Aquino govern-
ment and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels. The Comprehensive Agreement of Bangsamoro signed by peace negotiators in March will pave the way for the creation of a new autonomous region which will be home to Muslim, Christian and the indigenous tribes in Mindanao. The new region will replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao comprised of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, including the cities of Lamitan and Marawi. In a recent ceremony held in the town of Datu
Saudi Ampatuan, Ulama, who also heads the Organization of Teduray and Lambangian Conference, said the peace agreement would bring fresh hope not only to his tribe, but to Muslims and Christians, to live in unity and peace and work together for the development of the Bangsamoro region and its people. Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF vice chairman and chief peace negotiator, said under the new Bangsamoro law, all sectors of the society will be represented because it promotes representation of women, indigenous peoples, settlers and the
Malacañang in ‘perpetual’ review of Bangsamoro homeland law
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he draft law on the new Muslim homeland in Mindanao is still being reviewed by the Aquino government before the President signs it to ensure it complies with the provisions of the Philippine Constitution. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Bangsamoro Basic Law which was submitted in April by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission is still being evaluated and studied by the Office of the President and the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Alfredo Caguioa. “We are making sure that this will stand judicial scrutiny. To a large extent, we want to make sure that when it goes to Congress, it will be as smooth as possible,” Lacierda said. Manila has recently signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, but its leaders are worried over the delays in Aquino’s signing of the draft law. Once Aquino signs the draft law, it would be submitted to Congress for ratification before it can be decided on a plebiscite - probably before the year ends - in Muslim areas in southern Philippines that would make up the new Bangsamoro autonomous region and replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that has
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suffered from decades of poverty, corruption, and conflict. Lacierda said the delay in the signing was due to the evaluation of the draft law. “It is the evaluation of the bill itself. They have to go through each and every provision just to be sure that it is in sync with the agreement,” he said, adding, Aquino wanted to be sure that the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) can stand on its own, should there be a challenge to its constitutionality. “We can assure Chairman Mohagher Iqbal that the Bangsamoro Basic bill will reflect the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and its annexes,” Lacierda said. Iqbal is the chief MILF peace negotiator and also chairman of the 15-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission. “We are seriously worried about the delay in signing of the BBL by President Aquino and this further delay the implementation of the peace agreement – the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro – and it creates problems not only to the Aquino government, but the MILF as well. It’s a political problem and government has to address this quickly because we are running out of time here,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner. Lawyer Anna Basman, head of the CAB legal team, said: “Our Constitution itself provides the justification for the asymmetry and reserved
a separate set of provisions for two particular areas in the country – Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras.” “This progressive and enlightened section recognizes the uniqueness of the peoples belonging to these areas and provides for their rightful exercise of self-governance. The Bangsamoro Basic Law as the enabling law for the establishment of the Bangsamoro precisely aims to operationalize this constitutional objective.” Presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles has previously said that the BBL is likely to be certified as an urgent bill by Aquino, but some lawmakers and various groups were saying that the accord was unconstitutional and vowed to challenge it in court. But despite the government insistence that the BBL is legal, Aquino, up to now, has failed to act on the passage of this to Congress, and officials only give rhetorical statement every time the issue is raised in public. Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has accused the Palace of delaying the transmittal of the draft law to Congress for approval before it adjourns this month. He said lawmakers must ensure that the Bangsamoro Basic law is within the Constitution. The Philippine Constitution Association said provisions of the proposed Muslim homeland law may be unconstitutional. (J. Magtanggol)
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youth “as these will have their respective seats in the Bangsamoro Parliament.” The Teduray tribe covered more than 10,000 hectares in Mount Firis, but the rebellion forced them to flee from their ancestral domain. Iqbal, who is also the chairman of the 15-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission, ensured the inclusion of concerns of the indigenous people in the draft Bangsamoro Basic
Law they submitted to President Benigno Aquino for his signature in April. He said among these concerns were the right of the tribesmen for native titles and respect to indigenous customs and traditions, justice system, and political structures; right to an equitable share in the revenues from utilization of resources in their ancestral land; right to free and prior and informed consent; right to political participation in-
cluding at least two reserved seats for the indigenous people in the parliament; right to basic services; and right to freedom of choice to self-identity. Aquino is yet to sign the draft before it goes to Congress for approval before the government can hold a plebiscite in Muslim areas for residents to decide whether to join or not the new autonomous government. (With a report from Mark Navales)
U.S. wants custody of bomber
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he United States wanted to take custody of a Filipino bomber accused as behind the slaying of two U.S. soldiers in the southern Philippines, a local security official said. Security forces captured Miraji Bairullah in the town of Indanan after soldiers and policemen tracked him down in his hideout. An informant tipped off authorities about the bomber, who is a member of the Moro National Liberation Front. Bairullah is currently being interrogated by authorities in an undisclosed place.
Bairullah is long wanted both by the Philippines and the U.S. for the bombing that killed SSG Jack Martin and SFC Christopher Shaw, and a Filipino soldier in the village of Kagay in Indanan town on September 29, 2009. The U.S. soldiers were on their way to inspect a school project with Filipino troops when their vehicle rolled over a landmine. U.S. troops under the Joint Special Operations Task ForcePhilippines are deployed in Sulu since 2006 and aiding the Philippine military in defeating the Abu Sayyaf that authorities said have links
with the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya. Although security officials deny U.S. forces were directly involved in combat operations, there were numerous reports from civilians that American soldiers actually participated in the operations aimed at capturing or killing militant leaders in Sulu and other areas in the restive southern region of Mindanao. A US soldier was also killed and another wounded in a bomb attack at a roadside cafe near an army in Zamboanga City in October 2002. (Mindanao Examiner) The remains of a destroyed U.S. military vehicle after a roadside bombing September 29, 2009 in the southern Philippine island of Sulu. Two U.S. Special Forces soldiers and a Filipino marine were killed in the bombing. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Nickee Butlangan)
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