Roundtable on CAB’s political, legal and economic implications

While perhaps discomforting to the negotiators of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the studied temporizing by Malacañang in certifying outright as urgent the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to Congress is, in a realistic sense, a big positive for concerned stakeholders. It strongly suggests that the President is cautiously evaluating the draft of the Transition Commission before him vis a vis the voices of concern he hears from the general public. How he will balance the competing interests and how the MILF reacts to the “adjustments,” if any, he may submit to Congress will be everybody’s guess.

Well-intentioned groups, meanwhile, have managed to air their views on the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and its Annexes. They hope that Malacañang, if not Congress, will consider in the best light the output from their exercise. On 29 May 2014, for instance, the Philippine Ambassadors’ Foundation, Inc., the Philippine Council on Foreign Relations, in cooperation with the University of Asia and the Pacific conducted a Round Table Discussion on the Issues surrounding the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro. In attendance, among others were faculty and students of UA&P, guests from the Muslim community, notably from the Sultanate of Sulu and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Former senator Santanina Rasul was among the distinguished guests.