Launch of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission

The President led the launch of the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) on 24 February 2017 which was held at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Lanang, Davao City.

The BTC is the body that would draft the Bangsamoro enabling law. The creation of the enabling law is part of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) which was signed between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front way back in March 2014.

The commission is expected to submit the draft of the new enabling law on July of this year. The enactment of the law will create new political entity replacing the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in which it will have greater autonomy than the present ARMM but will still remain part of the Republic of the Philippines.

The 21 BTC members presented to the President are:

• Haron M. Abas
• Firdausi Ismail Y. Abbas
• Ibrahim D. Ali
• Hussin Amin
• Maisara Dandamun-Latiph
• SamiraGutoc-Tomawis
• Hatimil Hassan
• Mohagher M. Iqbal
• Ghadzali Jaafar
• Raissa H. Jajurie
• Gafur A. Kanain
• Datu Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan
• Jose I. Lorena
• Abdulraof Abdul Macacua
• Hussein P. Munoz
• Romeo Saliga
• Susana Salvador-Anayatin
• Omar Yasser C. Sema
• Said M. Shiek
• Ammal D. Solaiman
• Melanio U. Ulama

SPEECH OF PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE DURING THE LAUNCHING OF BANGSAMORO TRANSITION COMMISSION

Garden Pavilion, Waterfront Insular Hotel, Lanang, Davao City
February 24, 2017

Thank you. Kindly sit down.

Pag nagkapirmahan na tayo at mapayapa na ang Mindanao, aakyat ako dito. (applause)

Meantime, on the side na lang. I really— hindi masyado ako naka—nakaano ako, not really coat and tie but naka-loafer ako. Kaya lang, nabasa ako sa Samal, papunta rito. I was attending to a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new drug rehab center.

Mayroon akong speech dito, lahat naman, every function, mayroon talaga akong ginagawang speech nila. Pero dalawang pages lang, tapos uwi na tayo. Hindi ko ma—I do not read speeches because it does not reflect what is in my heart.

Alam mo, when I decided to run, it was because I was a late-comer, nobody was talking about the problems of Mindanao. And what you would hear from the— no offense intended, from the candidates, the usual rigmarole of graft and corruption and infrastructure projects and everything, despite the fact that we are under a threat of a war amongst our people.

Walang nagsasalita about Mindanao, and every candidate, sinusundan ko sila, nobody really bothered to say that there will be a serious undertaking to solve the problems of Mindanao.

So sabi ko, kung ganito, ano ang mangyari kung puro elitista lang, puro oligarchs, sila-sila lang ang namimili noon ng presidente. At every time, they only protect their own interest and newspaper nila, publish their own propaganda. Ang lahat ng mga TV and radio networks, eh wala naman kayong ginawa kung hindi suportahan yung mga kandidatura ng mga taga-Maynila.

And every other administration, for so long a time, never really thought of doing a serious study and come up with a solution sa Mindanao. And among others, I said, graft and corruption, and itong droga, criminality; I said the centerpiece of my candidacy would be the Mindanao issue.

So sinabi ko sa mga Pilipino, alam ninyo—and maybe they listened, because ang platform ko, ginagawa ko. When I said, there will be no corruption, there will be no corruption. As a matter of fact, I fired last night one, taga-Davao na—for simply making a remark about a— sa (inaudible). And I told him, even a whiff of corruption, talagang tatanggalin kita, So, I’m doing my part. Sa drugs, I am facing so many criticism and even threats of prosecution and— Sabi ko, basta gawain ko ang pinangako ko. If I go down or go up, that will be my fortune or my misfortune sa buhay. Pero I will comply with my promise no matter what. (applause)

So ito dito ngayon, large part of my campaign if you were listening, was really about Mindanao and how I explained to the people that Mindanao was already Islam before Magellan arrived here. (applause) And that is what the Filipino, the rest do not understand. Kaya it took somebody with a Maranao descent, but a Christian to explain to them na ganito ang nangyari sa Mindanao, that before, it was the rising of a nationalistic fervor, it had nothing to do about religion. No, hindi iyan atin, hindi iyan, but it had to do something about demography and the—yun ang sinabi ni—ninyo, the colonization of the Philippines.

Problema kasi, na-invade tayo ng other countries, just like in the Middle East, they are now suffering, they are now in agony as a result of the imperialism of the West.

Tayo dito, because it was mishandled and because they insisted dito sa Mindanao; first, to get the land and to make the people change religion. And it become a bloodshed— it became something like a bloodbath because, fiercely, there was an opposition. Ganun ang nangyari. Whatever happened in the past, as we are talking about it now, was just the nationalism of the Moro people and perhaps, of the indigenous tribes here. (applause) It had nothing to do with religion.

Ito ngayon ang problema ko, because of the imperialistic tragedy that happened in the Middle East, ngayon ang problema nila is extreme terrorism, extremist. And that is why, I am in a hurry. I am a man in a hurry, because sinasabi ko sa inyo, let us avoid extremism. Huwag natin sundin yung mga Arabo, kasi tayo, Malay. The Malay has always a forgiving heart. Nandiyan pa yang ating relihiyon which says, do something good and that is true for all religions.

Ngayon kung papasok sila dito, as they are now attempting to try inject the IS, mahirap iyan. That is why also we must avoid extremism or even entertaining or accommodating them because it will destroy all of us.

This will be a country torn apart, kasi ito sila, walang patawad. And even in the Middle East, because they’re driven by insanity, they kill just people for nothing, for no reason at all. Burning women because they do not want to have sex with them, throwing the child into a burning—parang bakery oven. And just simply killing people.

Now if we allow or we allow them to come in here and convert even some, there will be a bloodbath. Sigurado iyan, because of the mix ng atin dito. Now, I am trying to fast track everything. I promised the Moro people of Mindanao that you will have it during my time, dito sa atin. (inaudible) At ni-warning-an ko, at makikinig naman sila, eh kasi nanalo ako eh.

Sabi ko, pag hindi ninyo sinunod iyong payo ko, taga-Mindanao, in— after good faith, I’m telling you, that kung hindi ninyo sinunod ang sinasabi ko, magkakaroon talaga tayo ng gulo, and it will never solve a problem.

Where else can you find a president na ang lola, Maranao? (applause) Ah lolo ko, Chinese yun. Saan ka makakita dito ng mixture na ganun? Although, hindi ko pinagyayabang yun. Hindi naman eh—naglabas lang iyan nung eleksiyon na, kasi naglabasan yung mga cousins ko, yung mga anak; kasi—then it became an open ano, na ako pala’y—dugo ko, kalahati or one fourth even taga roon, o taga-Mindanao. But not only because of blood, and because taga-rito ako at alam ko yung agony na dinaanan natin.

The suffering that we have to undergo, the Christians and the Filipinos and the Lumads. We must have peace at all cost. But I would like to tell you now that as President, ang gusto ko talagang mangyari na kapayapaan, but it must be one country, one nation and one flag. (applause) Magkaintindihan tayo dun.

So, I’m urging the BTC to navigate the hindrances and obstructions at hanapin ninyo ang daan, hanggang patungo ng kapayapaan. (applause) Mahirap iyan! It will be long journey. But if there is the product that is acceptable to all, makikita ninyo ako. Maybe in front of the Filipino nation. I will ask every Filipino to go for it because it will make us a great nation. (applause)

So, I leave it up to you. You know the history, you know the equation here, you know the composition of the populations. You know the religions here. You know the idiosyncrasies of the tribes, magkaiba-iba eh. Maski—alam ko, kasi ang lola ko, taga-rito. I was there. You might have known it, but in my, in Iligan. Doon sila nakatira kasi propiyedad-propiyedad yan eh.

But I used to go to Marawi when I was—and for (inaudible), who was here, iyong kapatid niya si Jun was my best friend. (applause) Yung si Jun ang nakaalam sa pamilya namin. And I used to go to Marawi during—when he was still there, estudyante pa kami sa Ateneo noon. I used to go to, baka hindi ninyo alam, pumupunta talaga ako ng Marawi when I was young; but I stayed most of the time, sa Iligan; kasi ang lola ko na palagi sa Iligan, hindi sa Marawi.

So alam ko ang—gaano kasakit ang—you know. So sabi ko, “I have a daughter who is half-Tausug, ang tatay si Sangkula at si Regie naman, sa Maranao. I have yung mga anak ni Pulong: si Omar, si Rodrigo, pati siya, they are devout Muslims. Talagang pious lalo na iyong babae, si Isabel. (applause)

Kind of really— mag-usap tayo dito ng matino. Do not, I said—events overtake us, resist, I’m asking you now, resist extremism. Kasi pag extremism magkagulo tayo, hindi ko na ma-control iyan. You know, pag ang gusto na niyan dito, patayan na, wala ng mapag-usapang kapayapaan, talagang gugulo iyan, talagang gugulo iyan. And I cannot prevent, just because they are in, that just a few.

If they start to plunder this island and then everybody, do not—alam mo, religion is good, every religion is good. Pero iyang extremism, killing people for no reason at all. Medyo ano tayo diyan. Eh, talagang sisirain tayo lahat. Pero kung mayroon lang produkto—and you must hurry because if there is, I said, on the third year, mayroon kayong produkto at naipasa ng Congress, we will implement it.

And there will be some changes there and an election for—and I advise you, maski na papaano, do not forget at this time because of the so many islands and so many political parties and pressures, sabihin ko na lang sa inyo, most of the people from Luzon guys, they don’t understand and they do not want it.

So you must— in a newly born set up, just choose in the meantime. You can do away with the presidency, maybe if your parliament, but at this time, I would suggest, go for the parliament of— just like France, have a good President, hindi na ako iyan because if you finish it in three to four years, there will be an elections and if you provide an office of the President, I will be automatically disqualified, so I will step down and I would be very happy to see a Maranao for a President, siyempre mauna muna ang Maranao, mamaya na yang Maguindanao pati Tausug. (applause)

Or I would be happy to say, “Sino? Iranon”, and I would like to see people from the Moro community really, really, crafting laws for their own good and it could be a deeper set up than what we, others see in other countries. But you have many changes there and you can follow the best, what is really good for Mindanao. But it will be a federal type of course, and I said, and I reiterate again that I would be very happy to step down if I see a good law that would govern us all, equally.

Ang unitary type has worked in justice for all, not only during the Spaniards, because it provided for an imperial chair which is Malacañan. Kaya hindi ko tinatawag yan Mal—you have never heard me say “Malacañan”, I only say, “My office, my house”. Puro ang nagtira diyan, mga imperyalista, yang mga yawa na yun. (laughter) Kaya hindi ako natutulog doon sa— kung sinu-sino iyong mga Amerikano pati Kastila noon, ay letse. Kung magharap lang man ako ng multo, Filipino na. (laughter) Huwag mo akong paharapin, imperyalista. Mas mag-init ako, imbis na matakot pa ako, baka masampal pa kita, put—

So ganun, I just simply love my country and I would give way. I will step down, just come up in a hurry of what is good, then have an election. We can have the regional territorial autonomous region and, hindi naman happily ever after, but we—I would be very happy to leave a country that a—leave the office and see my country peaceful.

Iyan lang, madali iyan basta you just put your heart into it. The only appeal that I make dito sa—I only have one country, and that is the Republic of the Philippines. I may have only—maski na tawagin tayo ano, you may change one Filipino, basta tayo, puro tayo Malay.

Ang masakit lang sa amin, eh kasi in-invade, nandoon kami sa Visayas, ang tatay ko; but luckily for my mother na taga-rito man siya. So, iyan ang ano, that’s why, there’s a bit of diversity. But it is only belief in God.

This is the one thing that is really important is that you have the control of the resources, and of course, the income of your own land. That is what is important to the Moro people. Their territory, under the changing fortunes of times in their hands, yun lang. and I hope that you can— I said, navigate the many obstacles, the many obstructions but just go right ahead and craft one that is good for the entire Filipino nation.

Maraming salamat po. ●