IGOs, CSOs and rural poor sectors discuss the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) with Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC)

By: Bianca Ragas

A roundtable discussion on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) was held last 7 May, 2018 at the Partnership Center, Quezon City. The Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC), International Land Coalition’s National Engagement Strategy in the Philippines (ILC-NES PH), Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID), and its partners from civil society and the rural poor sectors, namely: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN), People’s Campaign for Agrarian Reform Network (AR Now!), Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CARRD), Task Force Mapalad (TFM), and Sadik Habanan Buhid Mangyan, conducted this RTD with the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC). The aim of the RTD is to build awareness on the context, rationale, concept, and implications of the implementation of the BBL to land and resource governance, with focus to the non-Moro IPs.

One of the proposed laws pressed in the Congress is the BBL. The proposed BBL would serve as the charter of a new autonomous region for Muslim Mindanao. The BTC version also recognizes the contentious issues of non-Moro indigenous peoples.

The BBL provides for the creation of the Bangsamoro Parliament which will be the governance system that will implement the law. The Bangsamoro Parliament will be the main structure that will determine guidelines in implementing the law, which includes the delineation of non-Moro IP territories – as opposed to the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) that provides for the self-delineation of territories by the IPs.

Attorney Maisara Latiph of BTC, presented the provisions of the BBL that illustrate its implications to land and resource governance on IP Rights. The Bangsamoro Government shall adopt measures for the promotion and protection of IP rights, including: right to native titles and/or fusaka inged, right over natural resources (e.g. share in revenues), and the right to Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC).

With regards to addressing conflicting land claims, the Bangsamoro shall develop a land tenure improvement program to be designed and implemented by the concerned ministries of the Bangsamoro for this purpose.

Mr. Romeo Saliga of BTC discussed the Bangsamoro Peace Process and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The CAB was signed last 27 March 2014, which culminates the 17 years of negotiations between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and proposes a comprehensive political settlement that aims to provide a just and lasting solution to the armed conflict. As one of the provisions related to the land and resource governance of the Indigenous Peoples, the Bangsamoro Government in accordance with the land registration system of the Central Government, shall administer land registration in the Bangsamoro territory through an office it shall create for this purpose. The Bangsamoro Government shall have the authority to protect and manage the environment wherein it shall have the power to declare nature reserves and aquatic parks, forests, and watershed reservations, and other protected areas in the Bangsamoro.

Mr. De Vera of PAFID inquired why the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was the main reference in the crafting of the BBL, instead of the IPRA. According to Atty. Maisara Latiph of BTC, since the BBL is a basic law, generic provisions were formulated. Using UNDRIP as its main reference is for the recognition of all subsisting policies and to prevent non-inclusion of certain laws.

BTC ensured that the Parliament will engage the IPs (both Moro and non-Moro), as well as the other sectors and identities, in formulating the details of the Bangsamoro Law.

Mr. Alberto Aduna of FAO asked what hindrances were caused by the militarization incident in Marawi, to the process in Mindanao. Atty. Maisara Latiph answered that the situation in Marawi rather highlighted further the need for the BBL to manage the conflicts in the area.

Mr. Timothy Salomon of ANGOC raised the issue on the already conflicting laws and systems in the existing local laws, which may further worsen the situation if adopted by the Bangsamoro Parliament. Atty.  Maisara Latiph reiterated that the Parliament will address this issue under the section of conflicting claims.

With the BBL recognizing traditional rights while still rooting from the Regalian Doctrine, Mr. De Vera commented that it would be a challenge for the Parliament to tie IPRA and BBL provisions on the Bangsamoro together. Hence, the Parliament will be needing support and consultations in harmonizing subsisting laws.

While the Parliament has yet to formulate its implementing policies, the subsisting laws will still be the bases of land and resource governance, and the rights of the indigenous peoples in the Bangsamoro. Mr. De Vera urged the BTC to make vested rights and protection of IP land claims non-negotiable. BTC recognized Mr. De Vera’s recommendation and ensured that non-Moro IP rights will be recognized under the enactment of the BBL.

The participants of the RTD gave the following recommendations to the representatives of BTC:

• government representatives should enlighten the sectors on the objectives and implications of the BBL during consultations;
• the Parliament should establish an independent spatial database with data gathered in the community level;
• to ensure that the farmers awarded with titles within the Bangsamoro area enjoy full rights of land ownership; and,
• to recognize the rights of non-Moro IPs over their ancestral lands, as a non-negotiable provision.

Atty. Latiph and Mr. Saliga of BTC, acknowledged all the mentioned recommendations, as well as the causal problems that resulted to the raised points. They also confirmed to forward these recommendations to the BTC and to Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Datu Jing of the B’laan tribe concluded the meeting. He expressed his hopes that the passage of the BBL will address peace problems in Mindanao, and the injustices against tribes.

Last 17 May 2018, the Congress has approved the proposed BBL. The Senate version of the BBL has huge discrepancies from the original proposal of the BTC. The battleground shifted to the bicameral conference committee. On 2 July 2018, members of the Senate and House of Representatives had joint deliberations on the differences in their respective versions of the proposed BBL. However, the two panels did not reach a consensus.

On Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last 23 June 2018, he mentioned that he will sign and ratify the BBL within the next 48 hours. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque clarified that the BBL will be signed as soon as both Houses of the Congress have ratified the proposed law.