MANILA, Philippines -- A Mindanao-based grassroots network called on President Benigno Aquino III to live up to his promise of transparency and make public the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law crafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the comments on the proposed legislation by Malacanang’s legal team.

“It is high time that the draft BBL must be released to the public so that all stakeholders for peace will be assured that this remains faithful, compliant and consistent with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro,” The Mindanao Peoples Caucus said in a statement released Tuesday.

The MPC counts indigenous people, Bangsamoro and Christian communities engaged in peace advocacies.

Both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have kept the draft BBL secret, saying it would be made public only when it is submitted to Congress for deliberation and passage.

However, Malacanang failed to submit the draft law to Congress before it adjourned early this month.

This prompted a “surprise” meeting between Aquino and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in Hiroshima, Japan last week, with another round expected in Manila this week.

The MPC said the secrecy surrounding the draft BBL has led to “unhealthy speculations” about the CAB, which was signed in March.

“We note that it has been more than two months since the BTC submitted the full text of the draft Basic Law to the Office of the President. And until today, the public is yet to know the contents of this historic document,” the MPC pointed out.

“The longer these speculations persist, the greater the chance of eroding the public’s trust on the GPH-MILF peace process,” it said.

 “To be successful, the peace agreement that the parties forged through a 17-year negotiation must earn the widest public acclaim,” it stressed. “We are therefore alarmed that the parties are seemingly doing nothing to stave off the erosion of public confidence on the viability of their political settlement.”

The organization pointed out that, in the process of drafting the BBL, the BTC had conducted several consultations to seek inputs from grassroots communities and different sectors.

With the draft submitted to Malacanang, “the public deserves to know how much of their hopes and dreams for a fresh social order are embodied in that instrument,” it said.

“We would like to emphasize here that the biggest stakeholders of the peace process are Mindanao’s grassroots communities and peoples who have suffered the most during the long periods of war,” the MPC said. “Let us not fail their expectations of finally enjoying normalcy in their lives by showing our resolve to defend the gains of the peace process, particularly the integrity of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.” -- InterAksyon.com