(Eagle News)–The Palace on Sunday, Jan. 27, said it “behooves” those against the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law to “yield to the rule of the majority.”
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the “sovereign voice of the participating voters in the just concluded plebiscite has spoken, ushering a ray of hope to that war weary, poverty-stricken, long-neglected and much-heralded promised land of the fifties.”
“We cannot be waylaid in the meanwhile in the race to peace and progress,” he said.
He said President Rodrigo Duterte hopes the ratification of the BOL “will commence the process of correcting the historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro.”
“It is in this light that all stakeholders must join their hands in unity and harmony to craft an autonomous government that will be responsive to the needs of the Bangsamoro people and other citizens within the jurisdiction of (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” he said.
“We urge the (BARMM) to give their new leaders their support and cooperation but at the same time we implore them to be vigilant and assertive of their rights,” he added.
The Commission on Elections deemed ratified the BOL, which aims to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with the more autonomous BARMM, after overwhelming yes votes from the ARMM during the recently held plebiscite.
Panelo issued the statement hours before twin blasts killed at least 27 in Jolo town in Sulu, a bailiwick of Moro National Liberation Front’s Nur Misuari.
Sulu, also in the ARMM, had rejected the ratification of the plebiscite.
