MANILA- President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday signed an executive order (EO) reconstituting the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) to make room for more voices in preparation for the drafting of the new Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The EO expands the BTC to 21 members from 15. Of this number, 11 members, including the BTC chair, will come from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and 10 will be nominated by the government.

In his speech, Duterte, who called himself a “creature of Mindanao,” emphasized the importance of a peace deal in Mindanao which has faced 45 years of fighting.

“My only desire is that peace in Mindanao would finally come and if that can be done peacefully without a fight, we will be grateful to God that not a single drop of blood has been shed in this new undertaking of giving a country finally the deliverance from violence,” he said.

The President also recalled how he was “appalled” by the lack of discussion among presidential candidates on the issues in Mindanao during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

“Every one of them [talked about] the usual infrastructure project, but never, not one of them ever said that we will take a second look at what will happen in Mindanao,” Duterte said in a speech.

Duterte also pushed for the improvement of Moro education, citing how Madrasah schools have multiplied in Mindanao to 169 from only one when he became mayor of Davao in 1988.

He reiterated the possible gains of a federal government which he dubbed as the “best structure that will be acceptable” to everyone, including the Moros.

“I decided to run on the platform that there will be a structure that must be acceptable to the people of the Republic of the Philippines, one that must be adopted willingly by the Moro people of Mindanao,” he said.

Present during the signing were Presidential Adviser on the Peace process Jesus Dureza, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, government implementing panel chair Irene Santiago, and her MILF counterpart Mohagher Iqbal.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Cabinet and MILF central committee members were also in Malacañang for the signing.