Colleagues in the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, Prof.Yash Ghai and Dr. Jill Cottrell, Dean Bacani, Atty. Marohomsalic, our friends from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue Mr. Saleem Ali and Mike Alar, secretariat and support staff of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome all to the first session of the Commission in the Bangsamoro--- the heartland of ourstruggle for freedom and justice.  There is nothing more fitting than opening this session in in brief silence remembering and giving tribute to the many brothers and sisters who lost their lives in this struggle.

The Bangsamoro ideals fought for in the battlefields andadvocated at the negotiating table are the same aspirations thatanimate this hall where fifteen (15)  of us, Bangsamoro men and women, are given the great responsibility to begin the process of translating the covenant of peace to a Basic Law.

 In discharging our mandate, we should not lose sight of our north star, the Bangsamoro ideals and vision articulated in the Bangsamoro Framework. This vision unites us and heals any division between and among us.  This vision is the bedrock of our partnership and mutual trust.

In my remarks during the ceremonial opening of this Commission in Manila, I characterized the Transition Commission as a joint project--- the first partnership in action between the MILF and the GPH. 

For this partnership to work, we shall exert every effort  to reach a consensus on major decisions.  We will demonstrate to the world that the Bangsamoro is united and one behind the formula for peace that will be crafted as our Basic Law.  We must promote an environment of cooperation not confrontation in this august body.  

As your Chairman, I will take the lead in listening and learning, uniting and bridging the plurality of opinions from individual members whose integrity and autonomy I will always uphold and respect.

I also highlighted in that speech the need to evolve a Commission that is consultative, inclusive, transparent, professional and accountable in order to get the public’s trust and support.  The trust and support of the majority of the Bangsamoro and citizens of the Philippines is one of the keysto  the successful implementation of the peace roadmap.

The eyes of the nation and the world are upon us and in people’s minds, the question lingers whether we can rise above the general perceptionthat the Moro people are incapable of leading and acting in a responsible, democratic and accountable way. 

As your Chairman, I will take the lead in making sure that our structures, work plans and internal rules will promote not inhibit our collective goals towards professionalism, democratic governance and public participation. 

Our session today will help lay down the strong  foundation towards fulfilling these goals.  I am grateful to Prof. Ghai and Dr. Cottrell who at short notice have graciously accepted my invitation and travelled all the way from Kenya to have this dialogue with us.  I am grateful to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue for facilitating my request to bring Prof. Ghai and Dr. Cottrell back to the Philippines. 

Our session with these distinguished international and domestic resource persons will broaden our perspectives and generate options that are objective, impassioned and realistic.  I would like to encourage everyone to have an open heart and mind to the wide range of possibilities that we could adopt to achieve our goals.

Let us focus especially on how we can best organize our structures, processes and internal rules so that they can be effective instruments in fulfilling our mandate and tasks.

I am looking forward to our productive discussions today.  Thank you.