About the IAG BBL forum in Bongao

The February 1, 2015 BBL forum held in Beachside Inn, Bongao, Tawi-tawi adopted a talkshop format where the host, IAG Executive Director Atty. Benedicto Bacani, fielded questions to a panel of resource persons. Participants were also given the opportunity to field their questions and comments. The talkshop was aired over local radio station DXGD in the morning of the following day.

The talkshop was presented as a forum for the in-depth discussions of the dominant issues on the BBL in Tawi-tawi. In keeping with its tradition of independence and non-partisanship, IAG framed and steered the discussions in a way that participants were not only given the opportunity to ventilate their aspirations, questions, fears and recommendations but also to examine the BBL from different perspectives in order to broaden the lens by which they look at the BBL.

Target participants were critical middle class stakeholders who may not have publicly expressed a position for or against the BBL but have kept an open mind to study the BBL for a principled and informed decision come the plebiscite.

The forum was attended by 180 stakeholders. The participants are from academic communities, youth, civil society organizations, religious groups, professional organizations, political leaders, and the security sector.

Panel of Resource Persons

With Atty. Bacani in the panel were Bangsamoro Transition Commissioners Peter Eisma and Fatmawati Salapuddin, and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) legal counsel Al-Amin Julkipli. They were joined by Prof. Jurma Tikmasan, chairperson of Nisa Ul-haqq, a grassroots civil society organization based in Tawi-tawi. Prof. Tikmasan provided the local perspective in the discussion.