FORMER president Fidel V. Ramos said the government has set an unrealistic time frame for a proposed law intended to set up a new autonomous Bangsamoro region in Southern Philippines.
Speaking at the Islam Democracy forum organized by the
Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) at the University of
the Philippines in Diliman on Tuesday, Mr. Ramos said the government
should extend its time frame to complete its plan.
“Ang kulang ay yung panahon kasi [Time is lacking because] you can’t just take these things for granted. Just because there is an expert panel, that does not mean that everybody will accept it within the time frame established by the government. It doesn’t work that way,” the former president said.
The administration of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III is eyeing to have the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) approved by Congress by the first quarter of 2015.
Asked what the administration should do to ensure that the planned Bangsamoro region will not be doomed to fail, Mr. Ramos said the national government should invest more in training the right people who will occupy key positions in the new region.
“There needs to be continuous training, at yung mga mahahalal na chief minister [and the chief minister who will be elected] must be well trained from the very beginning with the proper patriotism, proper sharing and caring for others and the republic of the PH.
“They will be part of the Philippines, they are not an independent entity,” Mr. Ramos said further.
Mr. Ramos was Philippine president from 1992 to 1998 -- the second chief executive in the restored democracy of the Fifth Republic which followed the fall of his cousin, the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. Mr. Ramos was a leading participant in the People Power Revolution of 1986 that led to Mr. Marcos’s ouster and exile.
In 1996, Mr. Ramos forged a peace agreement with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) head Nur Misuari that briefly reintegrated the rebel leader into the political mainstream with his election as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), an entity organized during the administration of Mr. Ramos’s predecessor, Corazon C. Aquino.
In light of Mr. Misuari’s controversial stint in government, Mrs. Aquino’s son, the incumbent president, had criticized the ARMM as “a failed experiment. Many of the people continue to feel alienated by the system, and those who feel that there is no way out will continue to articulate their grievances through the barrel of a gun. We cannot change this without structural reform.”
Mr. Ramos emphasized that the ARMM is the outcome of a political process dating back to Mrs. Aquino’s presidency.
“It’s the leaders of the ARMM who were bad, not the Constitution,” he also said.
“Ang kulang ay yung panahon kasi [Time is lacking because] you can’t just take these things for granted. Just because there is an expert panel, that does not mean that everybody will accept it within the time frame established by the government. It doesn’t work that way,” the former president said.
The administration of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III is eyeing to have the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) approved by Congress by the first quarter of 2015.
Asked what the administration should do to ensure that the planned Bangsamoro region will not be doomed to fail, Mr. Ramos said the national government should invest more in training the right people who will occupy key positions in the new region.
“There needs to be continuous training, at yung mga mahahalal na chief minister [and the chief minister who will be elected] must be well trained from the very beginning with the proper patriotism, proper sharing and caring for others and the republic of the PH.
“They will be part of the Philippines, they are not an independent entity,” Mr. Ramos said further.
Mr. Ramos was Philippine president from 1992 to 1998 -- the second chief executive in the restored democracy of the Fifth Republic which followed the fall of his cousin, the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. Mr. Ramos was a leading participant in the People Power Revolution of 1986 that led to Mr. Marcos’s ouster and exile.
In 1996, Mr. Ramos forged a peace agreement with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) head Nur Misuari that briefly reintegrated the rebel leader into the political mainstream with his election as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), an entity organized during the administration of Mr. Ramos’s predecessor, Corazon C. Aquino.
In light of Mr. Misuari’s controversial stint in government, Mrs. Aquino’s son, the incumbent president, had criticized the ARMM as “a failed experiment. Many of the people continue to feel alienated by the system, and those who feel that there is no way out will continue to articulate their grievances through the barrel of a gun. We cannot change this without structural reform.”
Mr. Ramos emphasized that the ARMM is the outcome of a political process dating back to Mrs. Aquino’s presidency.
“It’s the leaders of the ARMM who were bad, not the Constitution,” he also said.
(C) 2014 by BusinessWorld Online - Alden M. Monzon
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