About the IAG BBL forum in Jolo

The Januray 31, 2015 BBL forum in Jolo, Sulu adopted a talkshop format where the host, IAG Executive Director Atty. Benedicto Bacani, fielded questions to a panel of resource persons. Participants were also given the opportunity to field their questions and comments. The talkshop was aired live over local radio station DXMM. The panel also addressed the questions raised by radio listeners through text messages. 

The talkshop was presented as a forum for the in-depth discussions of the dominant issues on the BBL in Sulu. In keeping with its tradition of independence and non-partisanship, IAG framed and steered the discussions in a way that participants and radio listeners were not only given the opportunity to ventilate their aspirations, questions, fears and recommendations but also to examine the BBL from different perspectives in order to broaden the lens by which they look at the BBL.

Target participants were critical middle class stakeholders who may not have publicly expressed a position for or against the BBL but have kept an open mind to study the BBL for a principled and informed decision come the plebiscite.

Around 300 stakeholders participated in the forum in Jolo. The participants are from academic communities, youth, civil society organizations, religious groups, professional organizations, political leaders, and the security sector.

Panel of Resource Persons

With Atty. Bacani in the panel in Sulu were Bangsamoro Transition Commissioners Peter Eisma and Fatmawati Salapuddin, and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) legal counsel Al-Amin Julkipli. Com. Salapuddin, herself a native of Sulu, provided the local perspective in the discussion.