Marcos says BBL is dead

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on local government, claimed yesterday that the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) would not be passed during the term of President Aquino because the Senate and House have not finished deliberations.

“We might pass it during the next administration because we really have no more time,” Marcos said.

The Senate went on recess yesterday for the Christmas break and reconvenes on Jan. 18 next year.

There are barely three weeks – from Jan. 18 to Feb. 5, 2016 – left during the third session of the 16th Congress before the campaign kicks off for the May elections.

Marcos said he doubts whether the two chambers could wrap up deliberations even after resumption of session next year, noting that the House had difficulty mustering a quorum.

“Today is the last session day for this year. Maybe we can reasonably expect a short session in January, but we don’t get quorum at the House of Representatives because almost all of the congressmen, I’m sure 99 percent of them are candidates for one thing or another so they need to campaign,” he said.

Technically, Marcos said the BBL proceedings would be “back to zero” upon the resumption of the 17th Congress.

But once re-filed, Marcos said any member could ask that the work on the measure in the last Congress be taken into consideration by the committee.

Marcos, however, remains hopeful that the next administration will continue efforts to attain peace in Mindanao.

“But the peace process must continue. We must continue trying. We must find the solution to the violence and the fighting in Mindanao. It is not a local issue. It is a national issue,” he said.

“So the next administration must continue the peace process and be serious in finding a solution,” the senator added.

Asked what contributed to the failure of Congress to pass the measure, Marcos pointed to the delay in the submission of the draft BBL by the Palace, which forwarded it to Congress in September 2014 instead of April that year.

He lamented that the Senate worked very hard to have a “constitutionally-sound” basic law.

“The draft BBL reached Congress September 2014. It is now December of 2015. So we have been working on it for over a year and I can say I really gave my best effort to craft this substitute bill (Basic Law of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region),” Marcos said.

Palace not bothered

Malacañang is not bothered that the House cannot pass the BBL bill before the Christmas break today despite appeals from President Aquino.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said this should not be a cause for concern since they are coordinating with Congress to thresh out concerns.

“We have been informed by Congress leaders that efforts will be exerted to pass the BBL when Congress resumes session in January,” he said in a statement, referring to the assurance made by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and other House officials.

Coloma and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda advised the public to just wait and see.

“Let’s wait,” was Lacierda’s short yet confident reply to Palace reporters when asked about the possibility of the peace measure being passed by Congress, considering the repeated absence of quorum in the lower chamber.

Aquino said in an interview in Cebu City that he is very certain that despite the consistent lack of quorum in the House, a majority of legislators will definitely show up once voting on the BBL takes place.

The House leadership has been having quorum problems right after Aquino’s State of the Nation Address last July 27.

Coloma dismissed the claims of Marcos that the Palace and not him was to blame for the failure of Congress to pass the bill because it submitted its proposed BBL late and had lots of questions on constitutionality.

Marcos said he must not be blamed for the delay in the passage of the proposal because they did work on it for over a year.

Nine former senators who authored the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) law have also urged Congress to pass the BBL.

In a joint statement released by the Peace Process Media Bureau, ARMM law authors Heherson Alvarez, Teofisto Guingona Jr., Jose Lina, Orlando Mercado, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Santanina Rasul, Leticia Shahani, Rene Saguisag and Wigberto Tañada called on congressmen and senators to expedite the enactment of the BBL.

“We believe that members of Congress should rise to the challenge of stopping the cycle of violence and poverty that has stalled peace and progress in Mindanao for generations,” the group said.

They said that in addressing important issues that impact on national constituency, “we tried to prioritize the urgent need to address generations of inequity suffered by our Muslim brothers and sisters in Mindanao.”

The present lawmakers should take the opportunity to achieve lasting peace through the passage of the BBL.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles is still hoping that Congress will pass the controversial BBL.

Reacting to the delay in the passage of the BBL in Congress, Deles said that the key towards achieving the Aquino administration’s target to achieve peace in Mindanao is now in the hands of the lawmakers.

“We continue to hope that Congress will rise to the challenge and seize this historic opportunity to make a difference and radically shift the landscape not just for now but very especially for future generations,” Deles said.

She said the House leadership had assured Malacañang that there is still time and a way to complete the interpellation period this December.

“It is a very critical period for peace advocates to let their voices be heard loud and clear by our representatives in Congress,” Deles said.

She said that last week, President Aquino had clearly laid out the challenge to House members to pass the BBL.

Deles said Aquino reminded the lawmakers that this is the opportunity to bring a just and peaceful resolution to the armed conflict.

Aquino had stressed that peace in the Bangsamoro is not an issue of his personal legacy but the solution that would benefit the entire nation.

Opposition congressmen asked Aquino yesterday to leave the fate of the BBL to his successor. – Christina Mendez, Delon Porcalla, Aurea Calica, Jess Diaz, Paolo Romero