By RENE V. CARBAYAS
ISABELA CITY, BASILAN, Nov 12 (PIA) – Multi-stakeholders composed of key officials and representatives from local government units, government agencies, non-government organizations, the military and police, including the media in Basilan have agreed to organize a forum on the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement aimed at correcting misconceptions on the said agreement.
The provincial government of Basilan as represented by its newly installed provincial administrator Tahira Ismael, in partnership with the Basilan Communicators Network Inc. and the Nagdilaab Foundation Inc., has gathered the stakeholders to set the forum that will address misconceptions on the celebrated agreement entered into by the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) recently.
Provincial administrator Tahira Ismael has expressed concern on the growing misconceptions about the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement. She said that “our people have a wrong understanding of the agreement,” fearing this might lead to further division among Basileños if not corrected. She admitted that she herself is not very knowledgeable about the agreement.
Myra Alih, President of the Basilan Communicators Network Inc. and currently the provincial director of DOST in Basilan said that the “MILF (followers) has a wrong understanding of the framework, which will lead to more frustrations among our people if the agreement implementation will fail.”
Akbar Municipality mayor Alih Sali disclosed that he received information that the MILFs are already recruiting the young, luring them to join the group in view of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement. He also said that the MILFs are allegedly applying for integration in the armed forces and the police.
“This is the reason why we need to have people from the GPH panel and the MILF to enlighten us on the framework. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to understand the framework agreement if we talk by ourselves,” she said.
The group then decided to tentatively hold a forum on November 24. The said forum will set the standard and the guide for the other fora that will follow in the different municipalities and key communities in Basilan as information and dissemination activity that will raise awareness on the framework agreement.
Felipo Dave Malcampo of the Philippine Information Agency had proposed for a diagnostic survey to get the pulse of the people on the matter, saying that the pulsing will help the organizers to get perceptions of the people and the different sectors that may need answers from the government peace negotiators. The group decided to adopt the proposal as a pre-forum activity.
Miriam Suacito, Executive Director of Nagdilaab Foundation said that it is also important to ask the negotiation panels on the process and content of the agreement, especially on how they were able to come up with the said agreement, the stakes of both sides, and the issues and concerns raised during the negotiations. She said that all sectors must have their voice about the agreement.
While individuals and sectors may have sides on the agreement, Myra Alih stressed that “we must be very clear with our objectives (in conducting the forum), which is to inform and to enlighten the citizenry, the Basileños, about the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement (BFA) so that they can make intelligent decisions.” (ALT/RVC/FMGM/PIA9-ZBST)