MAJORITY of Filipinos reject the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law and they include those who live in Mindanao and are supposed to be its beneficiaries, the results of the first Standard Poll showed.
The poll, conducted by resident pollster Junie Laylo from May 8 to 18, also found that 63 percent of the Filipinos surveyed do not believe the Moro Islamic Liberation Front truly represents the Bangsamoro people.
At least 54 percent of the respondents said they disagreed with passing the BBL while 44 percent said they would still disagree with the measure even if it was amended to correct its unconstitutional provisions.
Even the respondents from Mindanao, who are supposed to benefit directly from the Palace-backed measure, were against it, with 52 percent saying they did not want it passed.
Once enacted, the BBL will pave the way for the implementation of the peace agreement between the government and the MILF, abolishing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and establishing another political entity to be called the Bangsamoro.
Malacañang has pinned its hopes on the passage of the BBL by June 11 or before Congress adjourns. But this early 12 senators have already submitted a committee report saying the only way the draft measure could withstand legal scrutiny before the Supreme Court was to revise it.
The survey also showed that 60 percent of the Filipinos polled did not believe it was right for the proposed Bangsamoro government to have exclusive devolved powers.
The majority of the respondents (62 percent) also rejected the proposal that the Bangsamoro have its own constitutional bodies similar to the Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections and the Ombudsman.
At least 59 percent of the respondents across all geographical areas also believed the creation of the Bangsamoro would go against the Constitution.
Across the country, less than a fifth of the respondents expressed confidence that the passage of the BBL would bring lasting peace in Mindanao, while only 20 percent said the measure would help lessen or even stop the armed encounters between the military and Muslim rebels.
The Standard Poll also looked into the trust ratings of the four major movers of the BBL: presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles, government chief negotiator Miriam Ferrer, MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim, and MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal.
The survey showed that Iqbal was the most distrusted, with all four of them getting negative net trust ratings: Deles at -27, Ferrer at -34, Murad at -41, and Iqbal at -44.
As an organization, the MILF received negative net trust ratings of -50 percent (12 percent “much” trust, 62 percent “little” trust).
Even in Mindanao, where the MILF has its stronghold, 50 percent of the respondents said they distrusted the group.
The majority of the respondents (59 percent) also said they were skeptical of Malaysia as a third-party broker of the peace talks given its territorial claim to Sabah.
The poll had a sample size of 1,500 with 300 respondents each from the National Capital Region, North/Central Luzon, South Luzon/Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao.
The Standard Poll had error margins of +/- 3 percent for the national result and +/- 6 percent for the regional results.
All regions were represented in the survey.
Laylo, The Standard’s in-house pollster, has 25 years of experience in political polling and strategic research.
