SB confident House can pass Bangsamoro law next month

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. expressed optimism the House of Representatives will be able to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law next month even as lawmakers tackle the BBL “cautiously and deliberately” in the plenary.

Belmonte on Tuesday met with leaders of the parties belonging to the majority coalition to prod them in ensuring attendance during plenary debates on the BBL to meet the target of approving the measure before the end of September.

“We have advanced quite a lot in the BBL. We have to stick to that,” Belmonte told reporters. “We have been proceeding very cautiously, but very deliberately on this thing (BBL) and what we have done is substantial.”

Belmonte said he agreed with the consensus of the House leadership to retain the numerous amendments made by the 75-member ad hoc committee chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.

He said the version being deliberated in plenary is somewhat close to the version also reported out on the Senate floor by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which means it would be easier for the two chambers to reconcile their respective versions once they are approved and brought to the bicameral conference committee.

The Bangsamoro Transition Commission, whose members include some leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), earlier wrote Belmonte informing him that the BTC passed a resolution calling for the restoration of at least 28 provisions amended or deleted by the Rodriguez panel.

MILF chief negotiator and BTC chairman Mohaquer Iqbal last week also personally met with House leaders to appeal to them to restore the BBL to its original version as submitted to Congress.

Belmonte and Rodriguez, however, said the ad hoc committee made sure that the BBL as passed by the panel would be free from unconstitutional provisions to make it more acceptable to lawmakers opposing it and increase its chances of being upheld by the Supreme Court.

Rodriguez said there are less than 20 interpellators left to go before the BBL is voted on second reading.

Belmonte earlier described as “bothersome” the lack of quorum that would have speeded up plenary debates on the BBL, but on Tuesday he said the attendance issues have been resolved. – With Jose Rodel Clapano