The Bangsamoro Organic Law is one of the landmark legislative measures of the Duterte administration.
President Rodrigo Duterte, a native of Mindanao, made it one of his priority measures as he expressed in his State of the Nation Address in both 2017 and 2018, giving it significant support from both houses of Congress.
In fact, of the 18 measures listed by the President as priorities, the BOL, which formally creates the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, was the first measure to be signed into law – as Republic Act 11054—in the House of Representatives’ third regular session on July 27, 2018.
Not long after Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s assumption as Speaker shortly after the SONA, she vowed it would be her first agenda as leader of the chamber to ratify the BOL, which she also co-authored.
As it turned out, it was the first piece of legislation passed by the House under Speaker Arroyo.
“As I intend to carry out the legislative agenda of the President, we will ratify the [BOL] today,” Arroyo said in a statement before the start of the session.
Arroyo had proposed House Bill 6121 or the Basic Act for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, which was then consolidated into HB 6475 and eventually merged into RA 11054.
The BOL was created to provide for the basic law for the Bangsamoro area and abolish the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, repealing for the purpose Republic Act No. 9054, “An act to strengthen and expand the organic act for the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao,” as well as Republic Act 6734, “An act providing for an organic act for the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao.”
In the President’s SONA on July 23, he said he would sign the BOL into law within 48 hours. The approved version of the law, Duterte said, would “pave the way for lasting peace in Mindanao.”
Then-presidential spokesman Harry Roque said: “We cannot underplay the significance of this signing as we take comfort in this momentous step toward building the foundation of a lasting peace in Mindanao.”
“At the same time, we recognize that more work still lies ahead, and we thank all those who remain patient and committed to this arduous task. We look forward to working with our countrymen in Mindanao in bringing the much-needed development to the island,” Roque added.
The secretary-general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, complimented what he called the “landmark signing” of the Bangsamoro Organic Law as an achievement on the road to lasting peace in the southern Philippines.
In a statement released by Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric in Manila, the UN official said: “The Secretary-General welcomes the signing into law of the Organic Law for Bangsamoro in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on 26 July, a landmark achievement on the road to lasting peace in the southern Philippines.”
“The Secretary-General congratulates negotiators for the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Bicameral Conference Committee, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and civil society groups for their efforts.”
“The United Nations will continue to support the Philippines in the implementation of the law, and to help build the capacity of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority as an effective conduit for peace, democratic governance, and human rights.”
