The public is invited to a forum on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) on August 4, Saturday, from one o’clock to five o’clock in the afternoon, at the Notre Dame University Gymnasium in Cotabato City.

The forum will be one of the biggest and the first of a series the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) will undertake that will comprehensively and objectively discuss the contents of the BOL. It will be aired live over DXMS-Radyo Bida station of Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation (NDBC) and will be streamed on IAG’s Facebook page.

After getting full congressional approval a day after the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the BOL was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 26, bringing closer to implementation the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) reached with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the previous administration.

With the passage of the BOL, the urgent need is to convey the right information on the contents of the law so that people can make an informed decision in the plebiscite.

MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim is confirmed to keynote the forum.

GPH-MILF Implementing Panel Chairman and BTC Commissioner Mohagher Iqbal, BTC Legal Consultant Atty. Lanang Ali Jr., Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo of the Bangsamoro Study Group, BTC Commissioner Susan Anayatin and BTC Commissioner Romeo Saliga are also confirmed as resource persons.

They will explore key principles and provisions of the BOL, including: territory, political autonomy, Bangsamoro Government and Parliament, justice system, transition and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), fiscal autonomy, block grant, taxation, natural resources, and inclusivity.

The August 4 forum in Cotabato City is a partnership of IAG though its Australian DFAT-supported Enpold Bangsamoro Politics for Peace Phase 2 program with Notre Dame University, Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Philippines Office.