KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 26 February) – Among the first tasks the Transition Commission (TransCom) on the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro has to complete are the laying down of the preliminaries, internal rules in particular, and the recruitment of some personnel who would work on it, a top rebel official said.
Mohaqher Iqbal, chair of the negotiating panel of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and appointed chair of the Transition Commission, said the task given to him is “a big challenge” in ensuring peace would be achieved in Mindanao.
“It’s a challenge… a big task ahead of us. But both panels are bent on completing the process before March,” said Iqbal in an interview over the Oblate-run radio station DXMS in Cotabato City.
On Monday, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III appointed the 15 members of the TransCom with Iqbal as chair. Pursuant to the FAB, seven of whom were nominated by the Philippine government and eight by the MILF.
The other appointees are Akmad Sakkam, Johaira Wahab, Talib Benito, Asani Tammang, Pedrito Eisma, Froilyn Mendoza, Fatmawati Salapuddin, Robert Alonto, Abdulla Camlian, Ibrahim Ali, Raissa Jajurie, Melanio Ulama, Hussein Munoz and Said Shiek.
The TransCom is tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law that will be certified urgent by the President and submitted to Congress for passage.
It will undergo a plebiscite in the proposed Bangsamoro core territory.
Once ratified, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is deemed abolished and the new Bangsamoro region will be formally established. (Malu Cadelina Manar / MindaNews)
