Malacañang indicated on Tuesday it is ready to abide by the congressional prerogative to amend perceived infirmities in the proposed Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), despite the strong reluctance of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders to subject the original BBL—which grants greater autonomy to Muslim communities in Mindanao—to any substantive changes.
Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr., however, hastened to clarify that the Palace is also appealing to lawmakers to ensure that the congressional amendments to be introduced and voted upon by the two chambers should not result in the BBL’s dilution.
“The appeal is: Do not dilute,” Coloma told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday.
Asked if the Palace was open to amending the BBL amid mounting misgivings aired by lawmakers following the January 25 “massacre” of 44 Special Action Force commandos who were ordered by President Aquino to go after high-value terrorist targets in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, Coloma assured that the Executive “respects” the legislators’ prerogatives.
“Introducing amendments is part of the legislative process which we respect,” the Palace official said, even as he held out hopes that the support of senators and congressmen who signaled intent to amend the BBL in the wake of the Mamasapano incident, could still be won over by the administration.
All about the money
This developed as two members of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL raised concerns over the annual lump-sum appropriations for the proposed Bangsamoro government.
Liberal Party Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles of Davao and Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino Rep. Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga City, members of the panel, at a news conference, said the automatic appropriation to the Bangsamoro region under the country’s national budget will not undergo a congressional scrutiny.
“That’s [annual appropriations for Bangsamoro region] one of the concerns being shared by a lot of congressmen, in fact, one of the issues being raised with regard to the money is it will give the Bangsamoro entity a lot more funds than many other LGUs [local government units] are receiving and, therefore, that will give them an undue advantage over many LGUs so there is a question about equal treatment, equality of the law and that can also be raised as something that might be strap-down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” Nograles said.
Earlier, Bangsamoro Transition Commission Chairman and MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, said that the expected source of funds for the Bangsamoro are block grant (P35 billion), special development fund (P10 billion), the internal revenue allotment of LGUs (P18 billion), and funds from national agencies awarded to regional departments (P12 billion).
Moreover, Nograles said that big allocation for Bangsamoro region would only be enticing for other localities to join the new entity.
“Remember the provision in the Bangsamoro draft is that there is an opt-in clause so any LGU that would want to opt-in can via the 10-percent [of the population] rule and then after the plebiscite they will join the Bangsamoro so meaning to say if you give as much as P70 to P75 billion per year to the Bangsamoro, then it would be very enticing for other localities, LGUs to join the Bangsamoro especially the poorer ones,” he said.
Final vote
Coloma conceded that lawmakers have the right to introduce amendments, but added these would still be subjected to a final vote by majority of the members of both chambers, to be adopted.
He explained that concerned lawmakers “just need to understand” the necessity, validity and importance of the provisions being questioned.
“The critics of the BBL should study the provisions being questioned because it would show that all of these provisions comply with the Constitution,” Coloma said.
For instance, he cited a BBL provision creating a Bangsamoro police force that, Coloma noted, would still be part of the Philippine National Police. He added that other constitutional bodies envisioned in the BBL for the new Bangsamoro entity that will replace the soon to be abolished Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao would still be “part of the national framework.”
Coloma said the Palace also understands the desire of some lawmakers to first see the full report of the National Police Board of Inquiry which investigated the killing of 44 SAF commandos in Mamasapano as part of the Senators and congressmen’s initiative to introduce remedial legislation that would ensure the incident would not be repeated.
Butch Fernandez & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz