[Inquirer] There is enough land in the Philippines for all, including the Bangsamoro people, President Duterte said on Friday.Praising Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader Al Haj Murad for pursuing peace talks, Duterte said that he was ready to give the MILF the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) it wanted but without the contentious provisions deemed unconstitutional.
The proposed BBL, written by negotiators after the signing of a peace agreement in 2014, would establish an autonomous Bangsamoro region in Mindanao. But the investigation of a battle between elite police forces and Moro rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, in January last year that left 44 police commandos, 17 MILF fighters and three civilians dead delayed BBL deliberations in Congress, and the legislature adjourned in February without passing the proposed charter.
Duterte noted that there were warnings of a return to war if Congress did not pass the proposed BBL. The MILF stood by its promise to talk, he said.
Duterte declared, "I am ready to give the BBL minus the constitutional issues that are contentious and cannot be solved by an agreement between me [and the MILF]."
One such issue is the proposed regional armed forces and regional police, which breaks the chain of command and cannot be allowed, Duterte said. But he added he was willing to grant the unchallenged provisions of the BBL, and the same goes for Nur Misuari's Moro National Liberation Front faction, which signed a peace agreement in 1996.
Duterte said, "Even if you give them that part of the territory (the proposed Bangsamoro region), there’s enough land in the Philippines. The Philippines is vast. As long as there is no fighting, everybody can be accommodated, and we can establish industrial zones."