By Ulmunir I Jannaral/Manila Times

“Yes, but no.” This was what Muslim Bar Association of the Philippines (Musbarap) president Dr Firdausi I Y Abbas told leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the position of his organisation on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Abbas, who is the Sultan of Lanao, stated the position of Musbarap to MILF leaders headed by Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) chairman Mohagher Iqbal during a dialogue between the MILF and the Muslim lawyer group on Wednesday at the BSA Towers in Ortigas Centre, Mandaluyong City (Metro Manila).
Abbas raised opposition, among others, to BBL’s provision on who can be counted as the “Bangsamoro People.”
The specific provision states: “Those who at the time of conquest and colonisation were considered natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including Palawan and their descendants, whether of mixed or of full blood, shall have the right to identify themselves as Bangsamoro.”
He explained that based on history, the Muslims in Mindanao were never conquered.
“In 1936, upon his inauguration as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Manuel L Quezon laid down the government’s policy towards Mindanao and Sulu— the Bangsamoro homeland, in his address to the first session of the First National Assembly that the time has come when we should systematically proceed and bring the colonisation and economic development of Mindanao and conserve Mindanao for ourselves and our posterity,” he added.
The Musbarap president also pointed out the Bangsamoro is a collective people of the Tausugs and Maranaos, and the people in Maguindanao, whose civilisation and culture were recognised by other nations long before the great global powers emerged.
He added the mighty powers of their day, Spain, Great Britain and the US even entered into treaties with Moro sultans.
Abbas also said his group opposes a provision in Republic Act No 9054, or the Second Organic Act of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which was incorporated in the BBL. According to Abbas, Musbarap, which is composed of prominent Muslim lawyers, was never consulted or invited to any conference or meeting on the BBL.