By Mario Casayuran A member of the Senate minority bloc urged on Monday President Duterte to crack the party whip in passing the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) instead of allowing protracted debates on Charter change (Cha Cha) to go on unchecked. Sen. Risa Hontiveros said current debates on constitutional change is holding “hostage our long overdue commitment to our Moro brothers and sisters.” Senator Risa Hontiveros (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) “The process of changing the constitution has not even started yet. In fact, Congress is still debating on whether to vote jointly or separately and what specific provisions of the constitution need amending. Then there will be tedious deliberations and a national plebiscite. Our Moro brothers and sisters have waited long enough for the passage of the BBL. It is our surest path to peace,’’ she stressed. Hontiveros said President Duterte cannot use the charter change/federalism process to replace the BBL process because it will result in a situation in which the creation of a Bangsamoro state would effectively be decided by the people of Luzon and the Visayas, instead of the people of Bangsamoro. “’This would not cure the historical and continuing injustices committed against the Moro people and would not be reflective of the gains of the peace process. This would also defeat the Moro people's rights as a distinct people to freely determine their political status and realize their economic, social and cultural development,’’ she said. “Charter change would subject the Moro question into a national plebiscite instead of a plebiscite among the Bangsamoro. This would be fundamentally unjust,’’ she added. Hontiveros maintained that the creation of the Bangsamoro is incompatible with the provisions of Duterte's proposed federal model. “For instance, the Bangsamoro parliament is designed after the sultanate model, taking into account the cultural particularities of the Bangsamoro people. I am worried that this would be diluted in President Duterte's federal model which contemplates a devolution of powers that is blind to the distinct culture and history of the Bangsamoro,’’ she said. “Ultimately I fear that Duterte's version of federalism, which his allies plan to achieve through an undemocratic and Senate-less constituent assembly and subsequently, reward themselves with term limit extentions, might be used a monkey wrench to defeat the Moro people's legitimate aspiration for self-determination as embodied in the BBL,’’ she emphasized “Federalism is a call born of the need to redistribute political power and disperse economic development to other regions in the country. I support a federal setup where accountabilities are clear and decentralized, and, government institutions are made more accessible and brought closer to citizens,’’ she stressed. “President Duterte's fake federalism is the opposite of this. It will only concentrate power to himself, extend the term limits of his political allies and hold hostage the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people,’’ she added.