How many ways are there to say that Zamboanga City is contiguous to the proposed core territory of the Bangsamoro?

Judging from the audience’s reactions at the IAG BBL forum in the city last week, there are two: contiguity by water – or the sea between Basilan and Zamboanga City – and contiguity by virtue of the ARMM property located within the city.

The first had already been ruled out in Congress. The second, well, is absurd.

But no, Zamboanga City, according to the draft BBL’s current interpretation of contiguity, is not part of the proposed core territory of the Bangsamoro – meaning, the registered voters there will not take part in the plebiscite for inclusion in the new autonomous region that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Sitting as a discussant at the IAG BBL forum in Zamboanga City, Al-Amin Julkipli, legal counsel with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), said the proposed BBL in Congress does not have a clear-cut definition of contiguity but that “the prominent position that has been taken by policymakers is contiguity by land.”

Since the submission to Congress of the draft BBL last September 10, Zamboanga City Representative Celso Lobregat has been openly critical of the proposed bill, especially with regards to the issue of contiguity and the regulation of power and water resources by the Bangsamoro government.

Recently, the congressman clarified, however, that Zamboanga City officials, himself included, and the majority of its people are not opposed to the draft BBL. “We are for peace and we want peace. We support the BBL provided it should be constitutionally binding. What we are against is the inclusion of Zamboanga City in the Bangsamoro territory,” said Lobregat during the congressional public hearing on the BBL in Zamboanga City last November 14.

Photo: OPAPP legal counsel Al-Amin Julkipli

But between that and last week’s BBL forum, it seems that the contiguity issue has not died down. OPAPP’s Julkipli had to elaborate further: “The position of our policymakers is that contiguity is understood by land contiguity. But how do you measure waters? Zamboanga City will still have its own municipal waters under the Philippine Fisheries Code. The question is to what extent if Basilan opts to join the Bangsamoro territory? Under the proposal, it will be equidistant – they will share for the same breadth of waters. On one hand it will be Bangsamoro waters, on the other, it will be the municipal waters of Zamboanga.”

Image: distancefromto.net

If it’s any consolation, to those who are saddened by Zamboanga City’s non-participation in the plebiscite for the ratification of the BBL, the proposed bill (in Article VI, Section 10) has this to say about Bangsamoro people outside the Bangsamoro territory: “The Central Government shall ensure the protection of the rights of the Bangsamoro people residing outside the territory of the Bangsamoro and undertake programs for the rehabilitation and development of their communities. The Bangsamoro Government may provide assistance to their communities to enhance their economic, social and cultural development.” This supplements the work of the already existing National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF).

Another discussant in the IAG BBL forum in Zamboanga City, Commissioner Fatmawati Salapuddin of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), urged the public to treat the proposed measure as one of the many ways towards peace whose success does not only depend on the President but on the society at large.

What is needed is an active citizenry to ensure that institutions work and relevant policies are enacted and implemented not only for the inhabitants of the core territory but for all the Bangsamoro people all over the country, Salapuddin added.

The BTC Commissioner hailed what she said are “parallel efforts to attain peace” such as the passage in Cebu City of an anti-discrimination ordinance and the establishment of the Muslim affairs unit in the local government of Bulacan.

Photo: BTC Com. Fatmawati Salapuddin