BTC En Banc conduct public hearing in Marawi City

 

P/SSupt. Oscar Nantes, Provincial Director of Lanao Sur Provincial Police Office with Gadzali Jaafar of BTC-MILF posed with integrity during the BTC meeting in Marawi City.

Marawi City (The Redline News Philippines) - The Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) En Banc conducted  public  consultation  in order to gained support and for early  approval of the said BTC  last May 15, 2017 of the said city.

Provincial Director P/SSupt. Oscar Nantes said, during public consultation of BTC was very successful because of the full support of the people here. The members and team was very responsive and cooperative to gained public approval, said Nantes in an interview.

Meanwhile, The creation of the expanded BTC from 15 to 21 was made after President Duterte signed an Executive Order (EO) No. 8 on November 7. The EO was one of the agreements reached during the August meeting between the implementing panels of the government and the MILF, where they discussed the new Peace and Development Roadmap for the implementation of the signed peace agreements.

Under the EO, the consultative body will be chaired by the MILF with 11 members, while the government nominates 10 members, including three members from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The new members of the expanded BTC are the following:  Ghazali Jaafar who will serve as BTC chair. Ghazali served as a chair of MILF Negotiating Chair from 1996-1997.

Other members include lawyer Jose Lorena, lawyer Maisara Dandamun-Latiph, Mohagher Iqbal, Abdulraof Macacua, Ibrahim Ali, lawyer Hussin Amin, Samira Gutoc, SunStar Davao columnist Datu Mussolini Lidasan, executive director of the Ateneo de Davao University-based Al Qalam Institute, Haron Abas, lawyer Raissa Jajurie, Said Shiek, Dr. Susana Anayatin, Romeo Saliga, Hatimil Hassan, Hussein Muñoz, Melanio Ulama, Gafur Kanain, lawyer Firdausi Ismail Abbas, lawyer Omar Yasser Sema, and Ammal Solaiman.

Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Jesus Dureza said that the launching is a milestone of the Bangsamoro peace process. "Today is a milestone, that has been promised. We have a golden opportunity. Now if we lose this (opportunity), it will be forever lost, we have to strike now. We call on members of BTC to come together using the experience and competency to craft a law which the congress will approve," he said. Dureza added that aside from BTC, bigger tables will also be given importance for a more inclusive Bangsamoro.

While Irene “Inday” M. Santiago, the chair of the Government Panel Implementing the Bangsamoro Accords, said the members were chosen because of their capacity to listen and their extensive knowledge in Mindanao.

“It is expected that the new members of the BTC will hit the ground running. Their role is vital for us to reach a CAB-compliant enabling law,” she said.

The government has set a deadline for the BTC to submit the draft to Congress by July for deliberations and ratification.

Earlier, Secretary Dureza said the old Bangsamoro Basic Law, which failed to be enacted as a law last Congress, will probably be the basic document, among other pertinent legislations, of the new enabling law (source: OPAPP/by Becky D. de Asis-The Redline News Philippines)