Congress leaders vow to give highest priority to BBL
Leaders of Congress vowed to exercise their leadership to see to it that deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law is given priority in both the Senate and House of Representatives | Manila Bulletin
By Hannah L. Torregoza and Charissa M. Luci, Manila Bulletin
Leaders of Congress yesterday vowed to exercise their leadership to see to it that deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is given priority in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said he will take the lead in convincing senators to give the controversial measure a chance to be passed before Congress goes into sine die adjournment on June 11.
“We will exercise our leadership in both chambers of Congress to give priority in the debates of the BBL,” Drilon said in an interview at Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig.
Drilon said the BBL remains at the top of the priority agenda of the Senate. Once Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., chair of the Senate committee on local government, submits the committee report, the measure will immediately be calendared for plenary interpellations.
HIGHEST PRIORITY
Majority Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales, who was among those who attended the congressional leaders’ meeting yesterday, said: “The House and Senate leaders agreed to prioritize the BBL. If the measure is reported out for plenary discussion, we will stop our deliberations on other vital measures and focus only on BBL. We will give it highest priority. We will do everything to approve the BBL in the plenary before the sine die adjournment,” he said in an interview.
Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, who joined Belmonte and Gonzales yesterday, said aside from BBL, the passage of at least eight economic measures will also be prioritized.
“We will exercise our leadership to ensure that it is taken up, it is prioritized. We are hopeful that we will be able to meet the June 11 date, but we will not do so by limiting debate and curtail our colleagues from raising valid questions,” Quimpo said in a separate interview.
MAY 11-12 VOTING
The House Ad Hoc Committee on the proposed BBL, chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez will put to vote House Bill 4994 or the Bangsamoro measure on May 11 and May 12. After the voting, it will be endorsed for plenary debate and approval on May 18.
Rodriguez said they are targeting to have the BBL passed before the sine die adjournment of Congress on June 11.
“By June, dapat passed na ang BBL sa both houses then we will have the bicameral report and the President will sign the Congress-approved bill,” he said.
AT THE SENATE
Some senators had earlier withdrew their signatures on the controversial measure following the deaths of more than 60 people in a bloody encounter last Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Among those who died were 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers who figured in a firefight against members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
It is the MILF that has a standing comprehensive peace agreement with the government peace panel.
As a whole, Drilon said the Senate will maintain its stand that the BBL is separate from the Mamasapano incident.
“In the Senate, we have always maintained the position that the BBL is different from the Mamasapano event, in terms of the substantive discussion,” Drilon said.
“As Speaker (Feliciano) Belmonte said, it is still in top of our agenda, we will wait for it in the Senate and I think the same thing will be done by the House—that they will submit the report in plenary. Once it reaches plenary, we will give it priority in the (Senate) calendar,” he said.
Among the measures eyed to be passed before Congress adjourns on June 11 are BOT Law amendment, BSP Charter amendment, the proposed Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (TIMTA), the bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the rationalization of mining and fiscal incentives, the proposed Customs and Tariff Modernization Act (CTMA) and measure merging the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
USMAN’S DEATH
Drilon also said the death of long-suspected terrorist bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman can spur confidence in the BBL among lawmakers.
Authorities said Usman was killed in a chance encounter with members of the MILF 118th base command.
“Certainly. Assuming it’s true – if Usman is really dead – then that can help bring back the trust and confidence in the measure,” the Senate leader said.
SURVEY
Meanwhile, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results showed that more Filipinos prefer peaceful means in dealing with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), even if less are satisfied with the Aquino administration’s peace efforts.
In the nationwide survey fielded from March 20 to 23 with 1,200 respondents, 45 percent said peaceful negotiations are more effective in dealing with the MILF, 20 percent said military operations are more effective, and 35 percent said military operations and peaceful negotiations are equally effective.
The survey was conducted amid ongoing controversy surrounding the death of the 44 commandos of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January.
SWS noted that those who said peaceful negotiations are more effective declined by 17 points from 62 percent during the same period in 2014. Preference for military operations rose by 11 points from 9 percent, while those who said military operations and peaceful negotiations are equally effective rose by six points from 29 percent.
It also pointed out that in 12 national surveys since December 1999, peaceful negotiations have consistently been seen as more effective in dealing with the MILF compared to military operations.
TWO-TO-ONE FOR PEACEFU NEGOTIATIONS
Despite the recent drop in March 2015, the ratio of those who prefer peaceful negotiations to those who prefer military operations is two to one, it pointed out. (With a report from Ellalyn B. De Vera)