By Butch Fernandez & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
DESPITE calls from several lawmakers not to railroad the passage of the peace measure, the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Bangsamaro basic law (BBL) on Wednesday approved the proposed measure creating the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
This as Malacañang insisted on Wednesday that President Aquino gave no favors to buy votes of congressmen he met behind closed doors in Malacañang last weekend in a bid to sew up votes and push passage of the original Palace-proposed BBL and not a watered-down version.
“If you are asking for any quid pro quo, there is none,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda told Palace reporters adding that, “if at all, the only offer was the ‘peace dividend’ of prosperity that the Aquino administration envisions under a BBL regime.
Voting 50-17 with one abstention, Centrist Democratic Party Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, committee chairman, announced that the panel approved the measure after two days of marathon hearings where the 98 committee members voted on each of the provisions of the bill.
“Our historic vote today aims to address centuries of inherited disadvatages inflicted on Muslims,” Rodriguez said.
“This is an affirmative action to correct the centuries of neglect and injustices on our Muslim sector,” Rodriguez added.
Among those who voted “yes” for the passage of the peace measure were allies of President Aquino and members of the majority coalition.
According to Rodriguez, the proposed BBL will be submitted to House Committee on Appropriations and Committee on Ways and Means for their joint deliberations on the measure’s funding provision.
He said that after the approval at the two committees the bill will be submitted to House in plenary session on Tuesday or Wednesday next week for second reading and third reading as it is certified as urgent by Aquino.
He added that Congress is aiming to pass the bill, which seeks to stop the conflict in Mindanao, on June 11 or before Congress sine die adjournment on June 12.
The basic law aims to create the new Bangsamoro juridical entity replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Under the bill, the autonomous Bangsamoro government will be parliamentary in form, and will be headed by a chief minister.
During the voting, the lawmakers used as basis for their voting the so-called Chairman and Vice Chairmen’s Working Draft of the BBL.
The Chairman and Vice Chairmen’s Working Draft of the BBL was only distributed following the meeting between Aquino and several House leaders over the weekend.
The Minority Bloc in the House tagged the newly distributed draft as “BBL Palace version.”
Rodriguez, however, denied the allegation, saying that the draft incorporated 95 amendments from several lawmakers.
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino Rep. Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga City, who voted against the measure, said, “I am for peace. I am not antipeace. But I am not for appeasement at the expense of the republic. We need a BBL that is just, fair, acceptable, feasible and consistent with the Constitution.”
In addition, Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, who voted a “strong and unequivocal no” for the BBL, said that, “We lose the chance to peace because Palace corrupted it.”
In Malacañang, Lacierda said: “the President’s belief is that we need to change the system in Muslim Mindanao. We have already said previously that ARMM is failed experiment.”
The Palace official pointed out that the Aquino administration had already established a framework for peace and development, and the BBL is the moving legislation to effect that moving forward—the peace and prosperity in Mindanao.
“So that’s the only thing that the President has made it a point to really push for—the reason for the President making a push for the BBL.
We have seen already even without the BBL that so many investors have expressed interests in investing in Mindanao. And I think having the chance for peace and prosperity is in our doorstep with the hopeful eventual passage of the BBL,” Lacierda explained during a news briefing at the Palace.
He also admitted that the Palace wants to fast-track approval of BBL that would grant greater autonomy for Muslims in Mindanao, conceding that the January 25 massacre of 44 Special Action Force commandos by Moro rebels serving warrants against suspected terrorist bomb makers hiding in Maguindanao has delayed passage of the Bangsamoro bill.
“So we have to catch up in order to bring peace and progress in Mindanao,” Lacierda said. “So many businessmen, local and foreign have expressed interests to invest in Mindanao.”
He also asserted the need to follow the BBL timeline for final approval of the bill to prepare for synchronizing the ratification referendum with the 2016 elections.
Lacierda made the clarification even as leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front voiced concerns that BBL amendments being introduced in the House and Senate deliberations on the BBL are “making them nervous.”
Asked why Aquino called a meeting last weekend with lawmakers on the eve of the House committee vote on the BBL version that would be submitted for plenary approval, Lacierda hinted Aquino was also worried that the bill may not be passed on time.
“I think we should recognize the fact that…time is getting short,” he said adding: “The situation in Mamasapano obviously delayed timetable for us.”
1 comment
I found this amazing site to make a living online…I’m now close to making $3000 a month. https://tinyurl.CoM/p74plm6