Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament unanimously approved the Bangsamoro Memorial Marker Act of 2024, also known as Parliament Bill No. 35, on its third and final reading during the 71st session held at the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City on August 19, 2024. (Marhom Ibrahim/BIO)
COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament passed the Bangsamoro Memorial Marker Act of 2024, also known as Parliament Bill No. 35, into law during its third and final reading on August 19, at the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City.
Authored by the Government of the Day, the law establishes a Bangsamoro Memorial Marker and Eco-Park at Camp Abubakar in Barira, Maguindanao del Norte. This initiative aims to honor the shuhada (martyrs) of the Bangsamoro struggle who sacrificed their lives for self-determination and freedom.
The Act was passed with 48 affirmative votes, zero (0) negative votes, and zero (0) abstentions.
Member of Parliament (MP) Engr. Baintan Ampatuan, who is also one of the Co-Chairpersons of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) Joint Task Forces on Camps Transformation, stressed that the legislation conforms to the normalization track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)—the final peace accord that ended the decades-long conflict between the GPH and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“This initiative is in line with the Camps Transformation Plan (CTP) that the six camps, especially Camp Abubakar, have adopted. Therefore, this is supportive of the initiatives under normalization,” MP Ampatuan said.
The CTP is a six-year plan that will provide the overall process and direction for camp transformation and serve as a roadmap to implement the transformation of the six (6) MILF camps into peaceful and productive communities.
MP Atty. Jose Lorena added that memorializing the contributors to the armed struggle serves as a reminder to future generations of the ongoing gains of the Bangsamoro peace process.
The bill, filed in September 2022, reflects the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Government’s commitment to creating a responsive and effective bureaucracy, aligning with Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim’s priority agenda. (Johamin Inok/BIO)
