by Azer Parrocha/PNA
MANILA — Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison is talking nonsense on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), Malacañang said on Sunday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark after Sison said that the President is “setting the stage for a bigger armed conflict in the Bangsamoro and adjoining areas” in his insistence to push for the ratification of the BOL.
Sison further said that there were several forces that opposed the BOL and that the President failed to offer “satisfactory terms and secure the agreement” of those strongly opposed it.
“Apart from saying that he is talking nonsense on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) being illusory, his latest rants are being ignored as a product of an idle mind in exile,” Panelo said in a statement.
Panelo said that Sison, who is currently in self-exile in the Netherlands, was issuing statements about local issues “he knows nothing about.”
He, meanwhile, expressed hope that Sison would remain healthy in both mind and body despite his negative remarks against the President and his policies.
“We pray that he be given a sound mind and a healthy body so that he will be spared from an unwelcome illness leading to what appears to be a journey to the unknown,” Panelo said.
In a speech at the Peace Assembly for the ratification of the BOL in Cotabato City on Friday (Jan. 18), Duterte urged the Moro community to vote “yes” to the legislation in the plebiscite to be held on January 21 and February 6.
“Your approval of this law will not only serve as an expression of your desire to end more than half a century of armed struggle in the region,” Duterte said.
“It will also serve as a testament to your determination to bring genuine peace and development in Muslim Mindanao through an autonomous government that truly represents and understands the needs of the people,” Duterte said.
The BOL, previously known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law, seeks to establish a new Bangsamoro political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Duterte signed the BOL on July 26 last year.
