BANGSAMORO BASIC LAW (BBL) DEBATE (AFFIRMATIVE) 1. Establishing a pluralistic democracy First and foremost, we need to end the conflict in Mindanao on fundamental moral grounds. The true measure of a democracy is not in how it reflects the will of the majority. That is nothing but the tyranny of numbers. A true democracy represents a political system where the minority is protected from the perilous whims of the majority. It is about protecting vulnerable minority groups against discrimination discrimination and disenfranchisement. disenfranchisement. Persistent conflict and poverty in Mindanao, affecting millions of innocent civilians belonging to a religious minority, undermines any attempt at achieving a full-fledged democracy in the Philippines. Phil ippines. Providing a measure of politicoeconomic and socio-cultural autonomy to religious minority groups – particularly particularly the perennially marginalized Muslim Filipinos, who bravely resisted Western colonization for hundreds of years – serves serves as a critical step in consolidating our democratic goals. As much as we should be proud of welcoming persecuted persecuted groups from around the world, we should also strive to improve the conditions of our own minority groups.
2. Reorienting our national security strategy No nation-state can fully defend itself from external predation when it is absorbed by domestic upheavals. For decades, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has had to confront violent insurgency and full-blown rebellions among marginalized sectors in the society. For the past four decades, the AFP has had to not only contend with major revolutionary organizations such as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and, its splinter group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but also a whole host of smaller, diffused, and highly radical elements such as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). For an archipelagic country with one of the largest coastal territories in the world, w orld, the Philippines has a disproportionately disproportionately small naval fleet and coast guard capability, because much of its defense-related resources has been invested in land-based warfare in troubled regions of the country. Embroiled in counter-insurgency counter-insurgency operations, the AFP has struggled to build up its capabilities against external threats. As the territorial disputes in the West
Philippine Sea enter a critical stage, with China gradually achieving the capability to fully drive out other claimant states from the area, there has been much talk about the AFP’s ability to defend the Philippines’ territorial integrity. Yet, without resolving the conflict in Mindanao, the Philippines will continue to struggle to devote sufficient resources to achieve minimum deterrence capability against Chinese maritime adventurism. Moreover, the Philippine state’s excessive focus on domestic insurgency has dangerously distracted it from developing a comprehensive strategy to confront emerging threats from without. No wonder, we have had little choice but to constantly seek help from allies and international legal bodies to defend our national interest.
3. Comprehensive national development In recent years, the Philippines has emerged as the darling of international investors, with many analysts portraying the country as Asia’s next tiger economy. But the Philippines’ economic growth has been largely concentrated in the industrialized regions, disproportionately benefiting a small circle of familydominated businesses. The recently-generated growth does not only lack inclusiveness, but it also fails to optimize the tremendous potentials of the Filipino people, especially in conflict-ridden regions of Mindanao, which lack basic infrastructure and a modicum of law and order. Blessed with fertile lands, talented people, affordable labor, and reportedly between US$840 billion to US$1 trillion in untapped mineral resources, Mindanao is an economic bonanza in waiting. Domestic entrepreneurs and international investors, however, will not step in unless there is a peaceful settlement between the Philippine government and key rebel groups in the area. Passing the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) – with all its supposed defects and potential dissonance with constitutional provisions – alone will not resolve the pandemonium in Mindanao. The BBL provides, at best, the legal foundation of a long-term peacebuilding and development project in the area. But it is, as the famous Chinese proverb goes, the first step in a journey of thousand miles.
