BBL can still be passed this year – lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines - Congressmen said yesterday they have enough time until their Christmas break in December to approve their version of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

“Our original self-imposed deadline of passing this next month before the Lenten recess is obviously no longer attainable with what happened in Mamasapano. June may also be tight but we could try approving it before our annual mandatory adjournment on June 12,” Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said.

“However, we should give the BBL the highest priority after the proposed 2016 budget when we reconvene in July for our third and last regular session. We can pass it together with the budget before yearend,” he said.

Albano said the ad hoc committee on the draft BBL chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez could finalize its version of the proposed law next month and present it for consideration by the House in May.

“We could have plenary debates and try to vote on it before June 12. If that is not possible, then we could work on it after we reconvene on July 27, the day President Aquino delivers his last State of the Nation Address (SONA),” he said.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone agreed with Albano that there is enough time to approve the House version of the BBL before yearend.

As in previous years, he said the President is expected to submit his 2016 budget proposal to Congress a day after his SONA.

“While the budget is being scrutinized by the committee on appropriations, we can work on the BBL. Even when the House tackles the budget in plenary session, we can still consider the BBL,” Evardone said.

He added that if the House and the Senate fail to pass the proposed Bangsamoro law in June, Aquino would most likely have the draft law as one of the administration’s urgent priority legislative measures.

Malacañang has accepted the possible delay in the approval of the draft law that would create a new autonomous Bangsamoro region in place of the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Albano said Congress has to pass its version of the proposed law “so we can do our part in the search for peace in Mindanao.”

“I think the MILF will accept our version, even though they want to keep the draft almost intact if possible. Their leaders know the dynamics of Congress and our system of government. They know that we have to subject their draft to close scrutiny to make it compliant with the Constitution and acceptable by the people of Mindanao,” he said.

Cayetano to MILF: Shun terrorism 

Meanwhile, the MILF should prove that it has turned its back on terrorism if it wants the BBL to be enacted, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said yesterday.

He said reports that an Indonesian jihadist was killed during the Jan. 25 encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao proves that the MILF “continues to be in bed” with extremists.

“The worldwide government policy is you do not negotiate with terrorists, so the MILF has to choose. You want BBL? Then you should turn your back on terrorism,” Cayetano told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Military Academy alumni homecoming in Fort del Pilar in Baguio City.

“If you don’t turn your back on terrorism, you will be pulverized by the Republic of the Philippines,” he added.

Cayetano was reacting to a report by The STAR that an Indonesian and two other Western-looking jihadists were among those killed by members of the Special Action Force (SAF) during the Mamasapano clash.

A security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Amir Ibrahim, the slain Indonesian, had helped wanted terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, train the MILF and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in bomb making.

During his visit to the Pangasinan State University in Urdaneta City on Friday, Cayetano said there is no hope for now for the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro law unless the Mamasapano issue is resolved.  – With Alexis Romero, Eva Visperas