Bangsamoro law to be submitted to Congress Wednesday, Aquino confirms

MANILA, Philippines - The draft version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) bill will finally be submitted to Congress on Wednesday, President Benigno S. Aquino III confirmed.

Aquino, who reviewed the draft bill prepared by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, made the confirmation in Davao City on Monday at the sidelines of the Philippine Business for Social Progress meeting and launch of the Mindanao Inclusive Agribusiness Program.

Citing Senate sources, the STAR earlier reported that the submission of the draft bill will be held in a ceremony in Malacañang on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

The event is expected to be attended by leaders of both houses of Congress including Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

BREAKING: Pres. Aquino and Sec. Deles confirm submission of draft Bangsamoro Basic Law to congress by Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/yFNoRX3vls

— OPAPP (@OPAPP_peace) September 8, 2014

Sec. Deles: On Wednesday, the champions of the peace process will be there and the President will personally endorse the BBL to Congress.

— OPAPP (@OPAPP_peace) September 8, 2014

The BBL will embody the comprehensive peace agreement signed last March by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government peace panel to end the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao.

The bill intends to create a new Bangsamoro political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It will declare the power-sharing and wealth-sharing arrangements between the national government and the new political entity.

Once the BBL is signed into law by Aquino, a plebiscite will be conducted in the envisioned core territory of the Bangsamoro to ratify the new government that will replace the ARMM by 2016.

In his speech at the event in Davao City, Aquino said the changing face of Mindanao is among the "greatest sources of pride" of Filipinos.

He said Mindanao, which has been plagued poverty and underdevelopment, will reach its potential for growth with the looming peace.

"For a long while, a good part of Mindanao was left in the margins. Self-interest and transactionalism bred a vicious cycle of poverty, political patronage, and underdevelopment—this in turn fueled the discontent of our brothers in the Bangsamoro," Aquino said.

"It is a region that, once was mired in strife, will soon realize its dreams of peace and prosperity, of innovation and advancement, of being a wellspring of opportunity for its peoples," the president said.