黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday launched his newest book tackling the creation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the measure that paved the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (Barmm).

Zubiri unveiled his book titled 鈥淭he Road to Peace: Crafting the Bangsamoro Organic Law鈥� at the National Museum of Fine Arts (the Old Senate Building) in Manila on Wednesday night, where he also held a book-signing event.

The senator鈥攚ho is known as the father of BOL or Republic Act No. 11054 鈥攕aid he finally decided to narrate into a book the grueling process of creating the historic law after the Supreme Court affirmed its constitutionality.

鈥淭alagang proud lang proud po tayo. We should be proud. [This book] chronicles all that kasi people think batas na 鈥榶an eh, madaling gawin yan,鈥� said Zubiri in a chance interview with reporters during the book鈥檚 launch.

(We are really proud. We should be proud. This book chronicles all that because people think that since it鈥檚 already a聽 law, it鈥檚 easy to do.)

READ: SC upholds Bangsamoro Organic Law but says Sulu not part of BARMM

鈥淸Pero] makikita niyo po dito kung gaano kahirap dinaanan po natin, sa lahat ng kinaaway po natin,鈥� he added, remembering the times when some areas in Barmm voted against him in the polls while the law was being created.

(But you can see here how difficult it was for us, with all the enemies we faced.)

Zubiri then tagged BOL as one of the hardest laws the Senate has ever passed, primarily because of how they had to deal with constitutional issues, and trying to appease political parties who were鈥攁t that time鈥攁gainst the creation of Barmm.

鈥淚to siguro isa sa pinakamahirap na batas na ginawa ng Senado, in terms of the difficulty of dealing with constitutional issues, the difficulty of trying to appease political parties, kasi alam naman sa dating Armm meron gustong magkaroon ng Barmm, merong ayaw, and we had to balance all that. and of course 鈥榶ung Constitutionality, within the Philippine system,鈥� said Zubiri.

(This is probably one of the most difficult laws the Senate has ever made, in terms of the difficulty of dealing with constitutional issues, the difficulty of trying to appease political parties because some wanted to retain the former Armm, while some wanted Barmm; we had to balance all that. And of course, we had to deal with its constitutionality within the Philippine system.)

鈥淩emember we鈥檙e a republic and we have a republican system wherein we have a Senate and the House of Representatives. To create this type of autonomy within the Philippines talagang napakahirap (it was very difficult),鈥� he added.

READ:

Zubiri noted that since the creation of Barmm, figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that the poverty rate in the region has drastically decreased to 24 percent.

The region鈥檚 gross domestic product growth rate has also finally reached positive growth, compared to the negative growth pre-Barmm, he noted.

鈥淪o it just goes to show na pag may kapayapaan, ay talagang may kaunlaran rin (where there is peace, there is progress),鈥� he said.

The former Senate president likewise said BOL symbolizes the importance of being a statesman, rising above challenges to push for the betterment of the country.

鈥淎nd it鈥檚 all because of what we all together achieved,鈥� he said.

It was during the 16th Congress when legislative efforts for the establishment of Barmm was first proposed, however, it failed to pass into law.

Led by Zubiri, the law was then taken up again in the 17th Congress, where after seven months of deliberations was finally ratified by the Senate and the House of Representatives in July 2018.

It was signed into law on July 26, 2018, and became effective on August 10 that year.