SIMUAY, Sultan Kudarat – One of the country’s two highest prelates expressed hope Monday the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will correct the historical injustices against the Bangsamoro people in southern Philippines.
His Eminence Orlando Cardinal Quevedo of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation and Mindanao’s first and only cardinal, was one of the speakers of the Bangsamoro General Assembly here attended by an estimated one million Muslims from across Mindanao.
The proposed BBL has been drafted and forwarded to Congress. It will be the enabling law that will create new political entity as agreed by government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels.
The MILF represents the Bangsamoro people.
“I pray and hope that the BBL will be symbol of unity of all Bangsamoro,” Quevedo told assembly attendees here as he also expressed his support to the Mindanao peace process.
In his speech, Cardinal Quevedo said he dreamed of seeing one day that the BBL would provide education among all Mindanao children to address deep-seated misunderstandings among Muslims, Christians and the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao.
Quevedo, who has ample knowledge on the Bangsamoro struggle for self-determination having spent almost all of his religious life in conflict communities in Mindanao, said he wanted to see peace and development emerging in Muslim communities with the implementation of the basic law.
Having read and constantly updated on the draft law, Cardinal Quevedo said he was convinced the BBL would unite Muslims, Christians and other sectors in Mindanao, saying it is the essence of the Mindanao peace process. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
