Bangsamoro Wali Sheikh Khalifa Usman Nando delivered his message to the Parliament on the ceremonial opening of the third regular session.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions.
His Excellency Rodrigo Roa Duterte President of the Republic of the Philippines.
His Excellency Head of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Government – Ahod “Al haj Murad” Balawag Ebrahim.
H.E Mr. SPEAKER – SPEAKER – Atty. Ali Pangalian Balindong.
Your Excellencies, Honorable Ministers, Members of the Parliament of Bangsamoro.
Honorable scholars (ULAMAs).
Datus, leaders of local government in the provinces and municipalities.
Dear brothers and sisters, the impact of the Corona pandemic is still before us, as it exhausted our self-government budget, and negatively affected our local and national economy. Also we are still new to this government. But despite the presence of the Corona virus and despite the recency of our time, we have achieved things that others have not achieved. There is no doubt that what we have accomplished within a short period of our assumption of responsibility for reviving our people, whether in terms of providing government aid to the needy in the Moro people, or in terms of enacting legislation, or in terms of implementing projects in the field of health and civil defense, or in terms of attracting our brothers with Arabic education to join the Ministry of Basic Higher and technical Education (MBHTE) as teachers. These all have not happened in the history of Bangsamoro over decades.
However, these achievements are not sufficient and do not meet the needs of our people. It remains incomplete unless we lay down the groundwork for the justice system through which conflicts and disputes related to rights, whether financial, criminal and other disputes, will be settled. Thus, security and safety will be achieved, through which our people will enjoy comfort and prosperity.
While we are talking about the justice system, there is no doubt that the legal system in Islamic law (Sharia Courts) that is guaranteed by the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BOL) comes to our mind. Let me remind you that the terms and conditions which stated in the BOL regarding to the positions in the courts to be created, whether it is related to the post of a judge or a clerk of court or others. If we look at those rules, we can hardly find qualified staff. However, please do not forget that we have courts under the umbrella of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which can be benefited of, as for their long experience in this field.
Means could differ, but the goal is one, which is to achieve justice. So, as long as it is, in my opinion, we can benefit from those who have sufficient experience in the field of arbitration and the court system. We can even ask the Bangsamoro Government (Parliament) to reconsider those conditions agreed upon in the judiciary system and re-studied again if there is a legal space for that. This is if we want to achieve the goal and purpose of establishing the justice system. These are represented in the five goals of Sharia, which are: to preserve religion, preserve the soul, preserve the money, preserve the mind, and preserve the honor. Because what concerns us here is the purpose and goal of those ways and means.
On the other hand, despite our achievements, we still need more. For example, in the field of health, we still need health centers to provide various health services to meet the needs of local communities in the countryside, as well as in the field of education. We still need more schools, as there are still many communities suffering from a lack of educational services like schools. Also there are still many of our brothers who are not able to send their children to schools in different areas, especially the Ligawasan. Also if we look at the infrastructure like roads that will connect the villages, then talk and no harm, as we are still behind among the nations in this regard. There are still many of our people who use carts drawn by animals (buffalo or cows) due to the lack of roads.
The unfortunate part of all of these is that human development does not proceed as desired because of these shortcomings, and because of our division and differences. Therefore, I invite you the scholars, the datus and the local and politicians to unite and reunite so that we may rise together and bear the responsibility together, and leave bigotry and intolerance, and put in mind the public interests and prioritize them against our personal interests. We must realize that our progress is in our unity, each of us is in a loophole, we are all responsible before God Almighty, be with us in the revival of our people, for our glory is your glory, and if we fail, you will fail, God forbid. May Allah bless us with his protection and care, Allah is the guardian of success.
Finally, by virtue of the authority vested upon me by law, I now declare this session open.
