House to pass ‘constitutionally compliant’ BBL

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives will pass a “constitutionally compliant” Bangsamoro Basic Law, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said in a   statement yesterday after members of the Bangsamoro Transition asked them to restore the provisions removed or amended by the ad hoc committee that deliberated on the bill.

“What we’re saying is that what we’ll approve is what will be constitutionally compliant,” he told reporters.

“I can understand their (BTC) sentiments and I also don’t want to go into the errors of the (government negotiating) panel but we were never consulted.” 

The BTC had drafted the Bangsamoro Bill based on the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) signed in 2012 and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in 2014. 

Plenary deliberations on the Bangsamoro Bill resumed last night with ad hoc committee chairman Rufus Rodriguez defending the bill seeking to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Malacañang is ready to work with the Senate in coming out with a Bangsamoro Basic Law that would promote long-term peace and progress in Mindanao.

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s submission of the committee on local government’s committee report on the substitute Bangsamoro Bill signals the beginning of plenary debates for the bill to move forward, according to Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.

“We are hoping that the issues they are presenting will be clarified as part of their discussions on the draft BBL,” he said.

Eighty percent of the Bangsamoro Bill’s provisions has been amended, Marcos said.

He will sponsor the bill today and answer other senators’ questions during interpellation.

The substitute bill had deleted some of the provisions that the House of Representatives had also omitted from its own version, Marcos said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) wants the Bangsamoro Bill spared from partisan politics and should not be used as a divisive campaign issue in next year’s polls. 

Last July 29, the BTC wrote Speaker Feliciano Belmonte  Jr. to restore at least 28 provisions the ad hoc committee had deleted.

BTC chairman Mohagher Iqbal furnished Belmonte a copy of the BTC Resolution 005 series of 2015 supporting the passage in Congress of the Bangsamoro Bill “in its original form.”

“The BTC implores the better judgment of the leadership of both Houses of Congress to pass the BBL in its original form and to henceforth act according to the terms of the peace agreements,” read the resolution.

The Bangsamoro Bill was consistent with the FAB and CAB, the resolution said.

“The BTC stands firm that the proposed BBL in its original form is the most appropriate version based on the FAB and CAB and considering that it is the one that underwent the legitimate process of consultation with the people and engagement with the Office of the President,” read the resolution.

Among the controversial provisions that the BTC wants restored are certain powers supposed to be exclusive to the national government, allowing contiguous areas to join the envisioned Bangsamoro region upon the petition of 10 percent of its residents, making internal security a concurrent power with the proposed Bangsamoro government and creating a separate Bangsamoro military command.

Malacañang would like a law that would uphold and push forward the peace process, Coloma said when asked whether the Palace would stand by its version of the Bangsamoro Bill.

The bill contains important provisions based on the agreements that the government had signed with the MILF, he added.

The crafting of the proposed law was in the hands senators and members of the House of Representatives, Coloma said.

“In our democracy, it is but proper to discuss the important issues contained in any proposed law and we are hoping that the result of their deliberations will advance the peace process,” he said.

Everyone’s concern

The Bangsamoro problem must be  treated as everyone’s concern, not a “partisan proposition,” the MILF said in an editorial posted on its website luwaran.com.

“It is a national interest to solve this problem, especially in the light of the conflict in South China Sea,” read the editorial.

“Besides, 17 long and harsh years of off-and-on negotiations is a record of its own. It is for this reason that lawmakers should set aside politics to give way to solving this problem. More seriously, it should not be used as a divisive campaign issue in the forthcoming national elections in 2016.” 

Every candidate must push for the passage of Bangsamoro Bill before the elections, the MILF said, criticizing Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat for standing in the way of its passage.

“We don’t understand why he still has so many questions up to now,” read the editorial.

“Does this mean he is slow in grasping or internalizing the issues involved in the law? Maybe yes, maybe no; he is  simply filibustering! It is time the House leadership should rein him in.”  

The MILF commended Marcos for coming out with his version of the Bangsamoro Bill.

“At least, he had proven his critics wrong that he is sitting on the BBL in the Senate,” read the editorial.

The MILF is  optimistic that the Bangsamoro Bill would be passed before October, the filing of certificates of candidacy.

“There is still enough time for it,” read the editorial. – Aurea Calica, Paolo Romero, Alexis Romero, Edu Punay