June 2, 2016

HON. RODRIGO R. DUTERTE

Davao City Mayor and President-Elect
Philippines

Dear Mayor Duterte,

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi ta’ala wa barakatuhu.

We would like to congratulate you for winning the 2016 presidential elections. We are
very grateful and joyful because we have actively supported you and voted for you.
Alhamdulillah! Our hope and efforts have truly been fruitful. Your success is a
manifestation that change is not just coming. It has already come.

We are aware that, after all the gratitude and joy for your success in the elections, the
real battle of the Filipino people through your leadership will begin the moment you
take oath as our President and start implementing your mandate to the country. You
can count on us that we will continue to strongly support you in your fight against
illegal drugs, crime and corruption as well as in your other policies for justice, peace and
development. We will do our part as citizens of this country and we will keep on
advocating to others to join us in our struggle. It is high time for this country to be free
from substance abuse, criminality and corruption and be united towards becoming a
high income economy, In Shaa Allah.

As Bangsamoro, we also strongly support you in your desire to correct the historical
injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people as you have consistently asserted
even before the campaign period. We strongly support you in correcting the historical
injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people since the establishment of the
Philippine State, which have roots that are traced back from the time of the conquest of
the country by the different colonial powers. Like you, this is also our aspiration. This is
also our dream.

However, we are concerned about the threat that the agreement signed in March 2014
by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) – the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) – will not be fully
implemented because of the possible non-passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Mr. President, we are hoping and praying that you and your fellow leaders and political
allies both in the executive and legislative branches of the government will understand
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that the BBL is not just a legislation for a form and system of regional government.
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Letter to President Duterte re Implementation of CAB and Enactment of BBL

The BBL is a legislation of our undying hope for justice. It is a legislation of peace, a core
part of the CAB and our best measure against extremism and terrorism. It is a legislation
that will truly enable us to solve our own problems in our own region, in our own
homeland, in our own communities. It is a legislation that will genuinely allow us to
significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of the country. Without it,
the CAB will have no institutional mechanism as a solution to the age-old Bangsamoro
question of right to self-determination and to the vicious cycle of injustices, corruption,
social exclusion, insecurity, conflict, poverty, and underdevelopment in the region.

The proposed Bangsamoro as an autonomous region does not impede federalism. It

does not even hamper or slow down the restructuring of the country into a federal one.
In fact, because the principles are the same, it is a model and thus provides an example
for which federalism, with its beauty, benefits and advantages, can be showcased to
other parts of the country.

This is of utmost value and importance for all of us, the Bangsamoro people and the
peace-loving Filipino people. We therefore sincerely and respectfully call on you, as our
President, to fulfill the promise of justice, peace and development for us and for the
whole country by implementing the CAB in letter and in spirit and by issuing an
executive order mobilizing the 17th Congress as early as possible, during its first session,
to give high priority on the enactment of the BBL through certifying it as an urgent bill
once it is filed by any of the legislators. We also call on you to include in the said
executive order to let the Congress leave the question of the BBL’s constitutionality to
the Supreme Court. This is in recognition to the mandate of the Supreme Court as the
sole arbiter of the Constitutionality of Philippine laws. This is also in recognition to the
manifesto of the framers of the 1987 Constitution as well as of many lawyers and
institutions from the different parts of the country who have officially stated in writing
that the BBL is Constitutional and is a fundamentally significant measure of social
justice, peace and development.

We are hoping and praying for the establishment of the Bangsamoro even before the
revision of the Constitution that will pave the way for a federal Philippines.

In behalf of our organizations and of the Bangsamoro people,

Signatory
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Cc: BTC, Secretary Jesus Dureza, Congressman Pantaleon Alvarez, Senator Koko Pimentel

Letter to President Duterte re Implementation of CAB and Enactment of BBL