Duterte : Correct Historical Injustice, Pass Bangsamoro Law

Manila, 21 Syawwal 1437/26 July 2016 (MINA) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday pushed for passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), legislation that would implement the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014, Philstar reported.

Duterte, the first president from Mindanao, said that conflict in parts of Mindanao is the result of a historical injustice that the country must correct.

He said the Muslim and Lumad peoples of Mindanao had been around and had their own cultures before colonizers came to the Philippines, and this has not been sufficiently recognized by the central government n Manila, a theme that he repeatedly spoke about during the presidential campaign.

“Mindanao was already Islam by 100 years,” he said, and then resorted to the local language to question “so what’s this situation we are in now?”

“It’s an imperialism thing… there is a historical injustice committed against the Moro people we have to correct,” he underlined.

Duterte added that it is was difficult to get back what the Spaniards, Americans and those who had exploited the southern island of Mindanao had taken from them.

The president stated that both Muslims and the local Lumad people of Mindanao had been around and had their own cultures before colonizers came to the Philippines, and this had not been sufficiently recognized by the central government n Manila — a theme he repeatedly touched on during his presidential campaign.

He reiterated his call to give the BBL, which would have sealed a peace deal between the government and the Philippines largest rebel group, the MILF but was shelved during his election campaign, a chance. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)