ON MONDAY, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission submitted to Malacanang the draft Basic Law that would create a new political entity that would take the place of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The envisioned Bangsamoro is the latest, and hopefully, the lasting solution to decades of conflict in the Southern Philippines. After a thorough review by Malacanang, the draft law will be submitted to Congress for its consideration. Once passed by Congress, the Bangsamoro Basic Law would be presented to the residents of the ARMM in a referendum. Only those areas that vote to be part of the new Bangsamoro substate would be included in the new political entity.
All of the various political entities created by the government since the time of President Ferdinand Marcos have generated controversy in a land that has long been afflicted by divisions and mistrust. The persistent suspicion of those who have opposed the previous autonomous regions in Mindanao is that government has bent over backwards to grant Muslim rebels their own Islamic state, one that is governed solely through Shariah or Islamic Law that is enforced by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
For today’s Data a Day:
TRUE OR FALSE: The Bangsamoro political entity will be an Islamic state.
For the answer to that question, visit the PCIJ’s Data a Day site, or come take a look at the PCIJ’s MoneyPolitics Online website for more relevant information.