MANILA — Malacañang on Monday welcomed the positive response showed by the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) on President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) last July 26.
“We acknowledge for the first time that positive response that we got from the United Nations and (the) European Union on the signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.
“Of course, we’re one with the whole world in praying that the Bangsamoro Organic Law would pave the way for lasting peace in Mindanao,” he added.
Roque added that Duterte was also open to amending some provisions in the BOL to satisfy the concerns of sectors who opposed it.
“I think the general sentiment of the President is if there are those who object, we’re open to reviewing those specific provisions,” Roque said.
The Palace official thumbed down claims that the BOL was rushed, arguing that it went through several “substantial consultations” and that the President even met with members of both houses of Congress several times.
The BOL, which seeks to establish a new Bangsamoro political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is expected to pave the way for lasting peace in Mindanao.
More Halal products
Roque, meanwhile, lauded the efforts of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to export more Halal products to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a result of an agreement with the United Arab Emirates – Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (UAE-ESMA).
According to Roque, the DTI through the Philippine Accreditation Board (PAB) and the UAE-ESMA signed the agreement last week.
“This is a big boost to the country’s growing Halal industry noting that annual Halal exports average may reach up to 1.4 billion dollars this year compared to the previous year’s average of only 800 million dollars,” Roque said. (Azer Parrocha/PNA)
