By Earl Jed Roque/PNA
MANILA — Malacañang on Tuesday confirmed that President Rodrigo R. Duterte will attend a big rally on Jan. 18 in Cotabato City to appeal to the people to vote for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Cotabato rally is in the President’s schedule.
Panelo reiterated that Duterte is a “powerful, influencing voice” that can convince people to vote for the BOL’s ratification.
“Kung ano yung mga sinasabi niya dati (the things he said before), he will just be repeating the same,” Panelo said when asked about the President’s upcoming message in the rally.
Panelo stressed anew that it is up to the people to decide on the ratification of the BOL through the plebiscite slated for January 21 and February 6.
“The President cannot do anything but to comply with the sovereign voice of the people in Mindanao,” he said.
The BOL, previously known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law and considered as one of Duterte’s biggest legislative achievements, seeks to give the Moro people basic legal tools to chart their own destiny within the country’s Constitutional framework.
