The administration may have given up, but groups continue the pursuit for peace, calling to institutionalize a Bangsamoro Basic Law compliant to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

Hundreds of members of peace groups, network of Bangsamoro including women and youth, and faith-based organization show their disapproval. The House was taken by surprise when numerous attendees including Moro women in hijab remove their top to bare their T-Shirts that say it all: 16th Congress Palpak sa BBL.

“We watched with disgust as the House members slaughtered what has been put together all these years to acknowledge the rights of our brothers and sisters, Moro and non-Moro Filipinos in the Bangsamoro” the statement distributed during activity read.

The group also expressed their frustration that after promises from several members of the Congress to support the bill, majority did not even attend the session. In a statement signed by several organizations, the group promised to not back down.

“We continue to push for peace for the Bangsamoro, and to be instruments of genuine social change so that every member of society will be recognized and the rights of every member of every are respected: their rights to education, employment, access to basic social services, and to live in a safe and peaceful community away from aggresion and armed conflict; for all to be part of this one country where the citizens of the Bangsamoro can feel that they are part of the Philippines, at par with the rest of the country, ” the statement said.

Organizations present include the Alliance of Bangsamoro Organizations for Peace and Development (ABOPAD); ALL OUT PEACE!; Al Mujadila Development Foundation (AMDF); Balay Rehabilitation Center (Balay); BAWGBUG Advocates for Peace and Human Rights; Center for Peace Education (CPE); Community Organizers’ Multiversity (COM); Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS); Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute (GZOPI); Generation Peace Youth Network (GenPeace); International Initiatives for Dialogue (IID); Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus (MPC); Mindanao Solidarity Network (MSN); National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) NGO Sectoral Council; Nisa Ul Haqq fi Bangsamoro (Nisa); People’s Alternative Study Center for Research in Education and Social Development (PASCRES); Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI); PILIPINA- Ang Kilusan ng Kababaihang Pilipino; Tarbilang Foundation; United Youth for Peace and Development (UNYPAD); United Youth of the Philippines (UNYPhil)- Women; Urban Poor Associates (UPA); Women Engaged in Action on UNSCR 1325 (WE-Act); Women’s Peace Collective. (Press release)