THE BASIC BANGSAMORO LAW DEBATE

Proposition: Let it be resolved that the Basic Bangsamoro Law (BBL) should
be enacted.

I. INTRODUCTION
Bangsamoro, which means a “Moro Nation” is a term which
the Muslim tribes in the southern part of Mindanao refer
themselves collectively. It came from the words “Bangsa” a Malay
term which means “Nation”, and “Moro” which is a Spanish term
for “Moors” used by the Spanish colonizers to muslim inhabitants
during their colonization.1 The areas where a large majority of the
Bangsamoro population consists of the provinces of Basilan,
Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi, and Sulu.

The Moro political struggle for unity had been an ongoing

issue dating back to centuries-old series of crimes and grave
injustices committed to Muslims from the hands of the colonizers.
One of which is the Jabiddah Massacre, where, on March 1968, a
number of muslim trainees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
were brought to Corregidor and thereafter mysteriously
slaughtered by the military. To this day, the serious injustice
committed to these muslim men remained unresolved.

These, among other injustices like discrimination and

unequal treatment in government policies given to the muslim
community, led to the outrage which contributed greatly to the
emergence of the Bangsamoro movement and to the recruitment
of Moros into the armed struggle for autonomy and survival of the
Bangsamoro people.2

Moro activists soon emerged in 19693 in the name of the

Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Soon thereafter, many
other moro rebel groups (MILF, BIFF, to name a few) were created.
The conflict between the government and the moro groups
increased as they continue to fight for self-determination and
autonomy against the unfavorable policies of the government to
the bangsamoro community. According to the Internal
Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), conflict has killed tens of
thousands of people and, since 2000, displaced 3.5 million
people.4

1 Althistory Wiki, Bangsamoro (World of Sultans); taken at

http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Bangsamoro_(World_of_Sultans)
2 Cranston, Jonathan, Why We Support the Bangsamoro Basic Law, December 4, 2014,
Peace Builders Community Incorporated (PBCI), taken at
http://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/why-we-support-the-bangsamoro-basic-
law-2/
3 Ibid.
4 Thomson Reuters Foundation, Philippines-Mindanao Conflict BRI, June 03, 2014, taken
at http://news.trust.org/spotlight/Philippines-Mindanao-conflict/?tab=briefing
 Series of negotiations between the government and the
moro rebel groups culminated which then led to the creation of
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a political
entity that captures the desire of the bangsamoro. However, the
limited autonomy granted by the government under the terms of
the agreement did not seem sustainable and satisfactory to
answer to their desire for a real self-government in their ancestral
territory.5

In 2012, the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro

(FAB) was signed, and was later expanded into the Comprehensive
Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The agreement, now the
Bangsamoro Basic Law, frames a Bangsamoro entity, envisioned
to offer a more robust and substantial autonomy in the Moro
territories.6

The BBL is anticipated by the Bangsamoro as the key for a

lasting peace in the war-ravaged areas in the Bangsamoro
homeland. It is considered by the Bangsamoro as the best hope to
end the fight for self-determination and autonomy in their
ancestral lands which they have been battling for more than 40
years. With the proactive support of the present Philippine
Government to finally put an end to the conflict in Mindanao,
should it be the best time for the enactment of the Bangsamoro
Basic Law?

II. POSITION

The Bangsamoro Basic Law will put an end to the decades-long

battle of the Bangsamoro for self-determination and autonomy,
hence, the BBL shall be enacted.

III. FIRST ARGUMENT: ROAD TO LASTING PEACE IN MINDANAO

The enactment into law of the Bangsamoro Basic Law remains

as the best solution to end the armed struggle in the war-ravaged
areas in Mindanao.

For many years, people in Mindanao have sought lasting peace

and harmony, a right which they have been deprived of by reason
of the armed struggle between the moro rebel groups and the
government.

5 Cranston, Jonathan, Why We Support the Bangsamoro Basic Law, December 4, 2014,
Peace Builders Community Incorporated (PBCI), taken at
http://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/why-we-support-the-bangsamoro-basic-
law-2/
6 Ibid
 The armed conflict in Mindanao has deep historical roots.
Before the Spanish colonization in the Philippines, the
southernmost part of the country, Mindanao, has been ruled by
Sultanates dating back as early as the 13th Century.7 Due to the
colonization of the Spaniards, the Americans, and to the modern
political and economic integration of the country following the
Philippine independence, many non-Muslim settlers moved to the
resource-rich southern part of Mindanao, resulting to the
displacement of many muslim communities.8

The increasing marginalization of the muslim communities

resulted to the long standing conflict between the government
and the muslim rebel groups. It escalated a continuing rage
against the government seeking for the determination of their
rights in their ancestral lands.

In a report9 released by the Swiss-led Transitional Justice and

Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), it said that the “legislation of a
Bangsamoro law that provides for a political and institutional
structure pursuant to the Comprehensive Agreement on the
Bangsamoro (CAB) could guarantee the non-recurrence of the
Mindanao armed conflict”.10

The BBL therefore not only addresses the concerns of the

Bangsamoro with respect to their territorial rights but it also
offers the Bangsamoro the recognition as a vibrant and
constructive part of the Philippines, based on the
acknowledgement of plural identities.11

II. SECOND ARGUMENT: SELF-DETERMINATION AND AUTONOMY

The enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law will give an end

to the long outcry of the bangsamoro for self-determination and autonomy.

The conflict in Mindanao rooted on the historical injustices

brought about by colonization and the political and economic transgression
of the government against the muslim communities in the country. The
influx of the non-Muslim population in Mindanao displaced many muslims
communities to the very place they call their ancestral homeland.

7 Thomson Reuters Foundation, Philippines-Mindanao Conflict BRI, June 03, 2014, taken
at http://news.trust.org/spotlight/Philippines-Mindanao-conflict/?tab=briefing
8 Ibid
9 The report was a product of consultations with more than 210 Moro, indigenous, and
settler communities in Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, involving some 3,000
community members and local officials. “Report of the Transitional Justice and
Reconciliation Commission”, Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission. 2016
10 Clapano, Jose Rodel, “BBL Best Solution to End Armed Conflict in Mindanao”, The
Philippine Star. March 19, 2016
11 Clapano, Jose Rodel, “BBL Best Solution to End Armed Conflict in Mindanao”, The
Philippine Star. March 19, 2016
 In a published research, it was stated that “the Mindanao conflict is
fundamentally triggered more by the centralism of the state and
inadequate democratic space that limits the self-governing power of the
minorities, particularly the Muslims, in the southern Philippines. The
contradiction between state’s nation-building efforts and state-creation
endeavours of the secessionist movement has sharpened the political
violence in Mindanao. The tenacity and seriousness of the conflict remain
complicated with the unremitting inability of the state to substantially and
decisively address, over a long period, its core causes – insubstantial
political autonomy, socioeconomic grievances and deprivation, and
perceived injustices, discrimination, and alienation of the people from the
mainstream of Philippine political and economic development. The issue
boils down to political and economic equity and social justice – the crux of
the state’s responsibility and the kernel of the nation’s spirit.”12

With this, the Bangsamoro Basic Law provides an opportunity for the
historical and cultural resilience of the Bangsamoro to be part and parcel of
the Philippines13--- a right of self-determination and autonomy which they
have painstakingly fought for decades. The passage of the Bangsamoro
Basic Law, strengthened by legislative wisdom and preservation of its very
letter and spirit, will lead to social justice, peace, and human
development.14

III. THIRD ARGUMENT: THE SUSTAINABLE BANGSAMORO

IV. CONCLUSION

MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal told the House ad hoc
committee on the proposed BBL: “The Bangsamoro is the sum of
our hopes and dreams. It may mean nothing to you. But it is the
whole world to us.”
Santos, Soliman,Jr., Bangsamoro Basic Law: Step Forward on a
Longer Road to Peace, October 25, 2014, taken at
http://balaymindanaw.org/main/papers-
presentations/2014/11/bangsamoro-basic-law-step-forward-on-a-
longer-road-to-peace/
http://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/why-we-support-
the-bangsamoro-basic-law-2/

http://news.trust.org/spotlight/Philippines-Mindanao-
conflict/?tab=briefing

12 Buendia, Rizal G., “Mindanao Conflict in the Philippines: Ethno-Religious War or

Economic Conflict?”, ResearchGate,
13 Clapano, Jose Rodel, “BBL Best Solution to End Armed Conflict in Mindanao”, The
Philippine Star. March 19, 2016
14 Quevedo, Cardinal Orlando, “The long tortuous road to self-determination in
Mindanao”, UCANews.com, May 14, 2015 taken at
https://www.ucanews.com/news/the-long-tortuous-road-to-self-determination-in-
mindanao/73586
 http://balaymindanaw.org/main/papers-
presentations/2014/11/bangsamoro-basic-law-step-forward-on-a-
longer-road-to-peace/

http://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-philippine-
star/20160319/281547995008279

http://news.trust.org/spotlight/Philippines-Mindanao-
conflict/?tab=briefing

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40614298_Mindan
ao_Conflict_in_the_Philippines_Ethno-
Religious_War_or_Economic_Conflict

http://tjrc.ph/skin/vii_tjrc/pdfs/report.pdf