MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Franklin Drilon has not given up on the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) even as the chamber remains busy reviewing the P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016.
But the problem may likely stem from the House of Representatives, which has failed to muster a quorum for the BBL deliberations.
Based on plenary debates, Drilon said the lawmakers are looking into the budget allocated for the transition commission and the BBL-related provisions since Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile questioned certain amounts allocated for the purpose when Congress has not passed the BBL.
“In the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), we will pass the budget in our proposed 2016 national budget. But with regard to the debate over the Bangsamoro Basic Law, we will put a provision on what will happen to the ARMM budget in the 2016 national budget,” he added.
Drilon said the deliberations on the budget are expected to be wrapped up this week, and the bicameral conference be done by next week. After that the Senate will still have a week before the Dec. 16 break to pass the measure.
He said that in the Senate, only Enrile is still interpellating the bill.