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News & Comment
Bangsamoro Organic Law: Pseudo Victory for Moro Muslims in the Philippines
News
On 6th August Rodrigo Duterte, the president of Philippine led the ceremonial signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in Malacañan about two weeks after its signing "Ten days ago, I signed into law the Organic Law for Bangsamoro Region for Muslim Mindanao which I hope will finally end the decades of conflict that is rooted in the Bangsamoro's pride for self-determination and recognition of their unique identity," Duterte said in his speech. (www.philstar.com)
The approval of the BOL came following a difficult time for the Philippines after Marawi siege - the principal Islamic city which was stormed by heavily-armed militants who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. This law would implement the 2014 peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. BOL is the new version of previous effort from the Aquino administration known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
The differences between the ARMM law and the BOL include the provision that the new law grants 75-25 wealth sharing between the Bangsamoro and national governments—higher than the current 70-30 scheme under the ARMM law.
However, Muslim Moro will still not have its own military and police forces, as these will continue to be under the national government. The Bangsamoro government will have near absolute control of its economy, including its own judicial and parliamentary systems, but Bangsamoro government must adhere to the provisions of the Philippine Constitution. (www.businessmirror.com.ph)
Comment
Through the ratification of the Bangsamoro organic law, the Duterte regime accommodates a bit of Moro Muslim aspirations, but in fact they will seize more honor and sovereignty of Islam in the Southern Philippines. The invaders will prey on the wealth of Muslim lands and exploit the incompetence of Moro Muslim rulers by making them puppets so that their hegemony remains strong even deeper.
This autonomy law, in fact, will never create essential independence for minority Moro Muslims, including Muslim women and Moro children who have been oppressed for decades and more than 120,000 Moro Muslim lives have been lost for nearly 50 years. This law is simply a trap to tame Muslims to become more moderate and pragmatic. All the efforts made by Duterte and international institutions boils down to one goal, namely that Islam should not be upright in the southern Philippines.
Any law offered by the secular Kuffar regime will in fact not allow Muslims to place al-Qur'an as its highest constitution. Although given more authority in economic policy and a bit of sharia law authority. As explain in a paper entitled “Governing Under Sharia” (2013), a think tank CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) - based in Washington, U.S. - charted that Sharia law could be incorporated in a "modern Islamic state" in three ways, namely (1) through national constitutions, (2) the national law and (3) sub-national law. Of the three choices, it is very apparent that Sharia law remains to be subordinate under constitution / secular constitution and order of the nation state system in force today.
Beware of this trap O our Muslim Moro brothers and sisters!
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Fika Komara
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir