Angela Kristine Mae V.

Linao
Grade 5 Jacinto
Araling Panlipunan

Dureza: New Bangsamoro Government Unit to Kick Of

Federalism Shift
By Prinz Magtulis (philstar.com) | Updated November 8, 2016 - 12:49pm
DAVAO CITY, Philippines -- A new "Bangsamoro government unit" will be created
through the passage of a new law, which aims to kick off the shift to a federalist
system in the country, the president's peace adviser said.
"We are hoping to establish a Bangsamoro government unit as a fresh start,"
said Secretary Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser for the peace process.
"It can be a pilot to federalism on other areas," he said during the Philippines
Development Forum on Tuesday.
The new plan, he said, will also consider input from the Moro National Liberation
Front, which was left out in the previous administration's negotiations with the
separate Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Those negotiations led to a peace
agreement and the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.
"We are going to engage with Nur Misuari and listen to his inputs that could
hopefully be included on what will be submitted to Congress," Dureza said.
Misuari opposed the BBL, which was based on the Comprehensive Agreement on
the Bangsamoro between the government and the MILF, alleging it would
sideline the 1996 peace deal with MNLF.
The MILF was originally a part of the MNLF but separated after Misuari's group
signed a peace deal with the government in the 1970s.
In 2013, MNLF fighters associated with Misuari laid siege to parts of Zamboanga
after the rebel leader declared independence over concerns his group had been
sidelined. Fighting, which sparked after the group tried to raise its flag over the
city, left close to 200 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
To jumpstart the negotiations, Dureza pointed to the "expanded" Bangsamoro
transition team which President Rodrigo Duterte organized through an executive
order on Monday.
"That is a start," he said.
Source:

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/11/08/1641723/dureza-newbangsamoro-govt-unit-kick-federalism-shift