Davao City Representative Karlo Alexei Nograles has assured the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leadership of his support for the speedy passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in the Congress as part of concerted government efforts to ensure lasting peace and prosperity in Mindanao.

Nograles, the vice president for internal affairs of the National Unity Party (NUP), said that MILF vice chair Ghadzali Jaafar met with him recently to personally seek his support for the BBL, the law that will govern the new Bangsamoro political entity envisioned in the framework agreement and final peace accord signed between the government and MILF.

"I expressed my support for the BBL because, if this is made possible, then it will be a precursor to the shift toward a federal and parliamentary form of government for our country, which I as a Mindanawon fully support and advocate," Nograles noted. "What is good for the Bangsamoro people must be good for all Filipinos, equally, without distinction."

Nograles said Jaafar assured him, in turn, that the BBL will benefit not only the Bangsamoro people but the entire nation as well "because it will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for Mindanao and the Philippines."

A staunch advocate of federalism, Nograles told Jaafar that the BBL could set the stage for a stronger national movement that will push for a federal and parliamentary form of government.

According to Nograles, he gave Jaafar his personal guarantee during their meeting that he would help in convincing his colleagues in the House to support the BBL.

"I added that, as people from Mindanao, we all share the concern that more development and more services must be poured into Mindanao, and because we are an island rich with resources, then whatever we reap as a people must be poured back first for the development of our people; that is only fair and just; and that can only be achieved under a federal parliamentary form of government," he added.