PATRICIA DENISE CHIU, GMA NewsFebruary 25, 2013 2:51pm

Malacañang on Monday announced that Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiator for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has been appointed to head the 15-member Transition Commission that will draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

At a briefing, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said members of the commission was appointed by both Malacañang and the MILF last Friday, February 22.

“The TransCom is composed of 15 Members: seven appointed by the President of the Philippines and eight, including the Chairman, selected by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,”  Lacierda said.

This was in connection with the landmark agreement signed by the  government and the MILF in October 2012 that seeks to create a Bangsamoro political entity to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

With an initial allocation of P100 million, the commission will draft the basic law for the Bangsamoro entity. 

By Carolyn O. Arguillas on March 30 2013 1:26 pm (MindaNews.Com)

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/30 March) – The 15-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission (TransCom) of the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will have its first meeting on Wednesday, April 3, not in any of the Bangsamoro areas in Mindanao but  in Pasig City in Metro Manila.

A media advisory from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) media director in Mindanao said the GPH and MILF “will come together to formally introduce to the public” the members of the TransCom “through the ceremonial opening of their first official meeting” at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Center in Pasig City from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. That meeting is expected to be even shorter since the same advisory says a press conference is “tentatively scheduled at 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.”

“It’s just ceremonial,” MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal, who will also chair the TransCom,  replied when  asked why they agreed to having the first meeting in Pasig.

The first TransCom meeting was described last week as “first en banc meeting” but this week was changed to “ceremonial opening of their first official meeting.”

MILF Chair Murad Ebrahim & President Noynoy Aquino            >> Read P'Noy Speech <<

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao—President Aquino on Monday paid a historic visit to the stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) here and said the peace talks must be speeded up.

As hundreds of military troops and MILF fighters stood guard outside the Moro rebel’s Camp Darapanan, Aquino and MILF chairman Ebrahim Murad handed out educational, health and livelihood benefits to the families of the rebels to show the government’s intention to improve the lives of the Muslims in Mindanao.

It was the first presidential visit in peace to the MILF’s stronghold in Maguindanao province, which has a recent history of major battles between government forces and Muslim insurgents, who were at times suspected to have been aided by al-Qaida-linked terrorists. >> Full story 

RIYADH: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom said they felt “inspired” by the signing ceremony on Oct. 15 of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro region in the south of the Philippines, between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

One of them was Anas Hussein Datu, a four-year-old child born in Saudi Arabia who participated in a picture-taking session here by Tugaya International Foundation (TIF). They were wearing yellow T-shirts with the words, “We Bangsamoro support the Framework Agreement,” printed on them. Anas and other children also carried a banner that said, “We the Tugayan International Foundation heartily and strongly welcome and support the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro sub-state.”

The group’s elder adviser Rasol Abbas said, “I am really inspired to see peace taking place wherever and whoever benefits from it.”

He added: “I am much inspired by the 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the UN, US, UK, Australia, Japan and many others who have already expressed their support for the Framework Agreement.

JOINT GPH-MILF DRAFT

Related story: » Philippines signs truce with Muslim rebels » MILF eyes political party in future polls » Aquino hails gov’t-MILF peace deal » New PH-MILF peace pact to serve as ‘road map’     for future peace talks – Binay » Santiago questions peace deal » 15 members of Transition Commission » Transition body on Bangsamoro gov’t    to meet this week, say MILF, PH gov’t

In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON THE BANGSAMORO

The Philippine Government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) herein referred to as the Parties to this Agreement,

HAVE AGREED AND ACKNOWLEDGED AS FOLLOWS:

I. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BANGSAMORO

1. The Parties agree that the status quo is unacceptable and that the Bangsamoro shall be established to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The Bangsamoro is the new autonomous political entity (NPE) referred to in the Decision Points of Principles as of April 2012.

Sa ngalan ng Allah, ang Pinakamahabagin, at Pinakamaawain, ang lahat ng Kaluwalhatian at Pagpupuri ay para lamang kay Allah, at ang pagpapala sa Mohammad na sugo ng Allah (sumakanya nawa ang kapayapaan).

Tunay na ang tao sa Mundo na ito ay gusto pa madagdagan ang kanyang panahon, ang edad, ang kayamanan, mga anak at sa lahat ng kanyang ikinagagalak.

At ang Bendisyon: siya ang pagpanatili ng mabubuting mga bagay na mula sa Panginoon,  dahil pag pumasok sa maliit na bagay ito ay dumadami, at kapag pumasok sa marami ito ay napakikinabangan ng marami, at ang pinaka malaking bunga ng Bendisyon sa lahat ng panahon ay upang gamitin para sa pagsunod kay Allah ang Kata-asta-asang Pinakadakila.

At ang Bendisyon kapag ipinanaog ng Allah ay pumapasok sa lahat ng bagay: sa kayamanan, sa mga anak, sa panahon, sa trabaho, sa product, sa asawa, sa kaalaman, sa pagpapahayag ng Islam, sa mga hayop, sa bahay, sa utak, sa mga bahagi ng katawan, sa mga kaibigan, kaya’t ang paghahanap ng Bendisyon ay kinakailangan at binibigyan ng importansiya.