A March survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS) revealed that only one of five Filipinos agrees with the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
“Consistent with their negative attitude towards the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, people in the Philippines as a whole are not hopeful that the proposed new Bangsamoro government will bring peace and development to the area. People in the Core Territory are more hopeful, with the same geographic variation as noted in the approval of the Basic Law,” the survey revealed.
The core territory includes Sulu, Basilan, Isabela City, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao Del Sur, Maguindanao, Cotabato City, Lanao del Norte near ARMM, and Cotabato near ARMM.
The survey interviewed 1,200 adults nationwide, including 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
There was a prevailing favorable attitude towards the peace agreement until the massacre of 44 police commandos in January 25 by fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups in Bgy. Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Seventeen MILF fighters and three civilians were also killed in the incident.
The massacre was perpetrated while the MILF and the government had a standing ceasefire agreement and peace negotiation with the government via the BBL.
The massacre tested ceasefire mechanisms in a legal police operation that successfully neutralized Malaysian terrorist bomber Zulkifli bin Hir (Marwan) who was found and killed in MILF territory. The incident put the BBL in peril and doubted the sincerity of the MILF in quest for peace.
Manila Bulletin
