Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he will convince Cotabato City’s mayor and former Sulu governor to support the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

“From here, I will be proceeding to Jolo to talk to those people there because (Abdu)sakur Tan, the former governor doesn’t want to join the BOL. From there, tomorrow we will go to Cotabato City because the mayor of Cotabato City (Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi) doesn’t also want to join the BOL,” Lorenzana said at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) Prospects Forum Thursday.

“So there are some, still some problems going on inside this area and we’d like to fix this. Also the president is pitching in and will go to Cotabato City tomorrow for the big rally to support the BOL,” he stated.

Last year, Tan filed a petition questioning the constitutionality of the BOL and request for the issuance of temporary restraining order before the Supreme Court.

Lorenzana added that the Cabinet members are trying to get support of people in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“On Monday, the plebiscite for the BOL will be done in the whole of ARMM and on February 6, plebiscite for the six towns of Lanao del Sur who would like to join the BOL and 75 barangays of North Cotabato who would like to join,”

“And that is what we are trying to do, some of us cabinet members especially the OPPAP (Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) have been going around ARMM, talking to these people to support the BOL,” he said.

Lorenzana also expressed hope terrorism and violence in Mindanao will be resolved with the establishment of BOL.

“That’s for the problem in Mindanao and we hope that with the establishment of the BOL we could also stop the violence there, the problem on lawlessness, although we expect that the Abu Sayyaf will remain, and some of the remnants of the Maute-Isis in Central Mindanao will remain and hopefully the MILF who will be manning, who will be governing the BOL will be an instrument also to eradicate these people,” he said. Robina Asido/DMS