MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives has decided to delete the controversial opt-in provision from the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in a move to lessen opposition to the measure.
“The leadership has agreed to the proposal of our colleagues from Mindanao to scrap this provision,” Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, principal sponsor of the proposed law, told reporters yesterday.
“Its deletion will be the first amendment I will present when the period for amendments comes after we finish the remaining interpellations,” he said.
The opt-in provision allows the envisioned new autonomous Bangsamoro region to expand if at least 10 percent of voters in neighboring areas or their municipal councils petition for their inclusion in the regional government.
If there were such petition, a plebiscite would be called to have it approved by voters.
The planned Bangsamoro entity would replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It would be composed basically of the five provinces in the ARMM.
Congressmen outside the Muslim region fear that they would lose their districts to the Bangsamoro regional government if the opt-in provision were retained in the BBL. – With Paolo Romero, Roel Pareño