Malacañang remains hopeful Congress will now find time to finally pass the controversial Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) creating a new entity in place of the soon to be abolished Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), while the final version of P3-trillion 2016 budget is still being crafted in the bicameral committee.
“The BBL is an important piece of legislation,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said. He added that the Palace remains hopeful that the lawmakers will now devote time to deliberate and take a final floor vote on the BBL with the 2016 budget debates now out of the way.
“We hope both Houses will pass the BBL,” Lacierda said.
The Palace official aired the appeal when asked if President Aquino will give an extra push to ensure passage of the BBL, given that Congress has only 10 more session days left before adjourning for the Christmas recess.
When Congress reconvenes after their Christmas vacation, lawmakers would have nine more session days from January 9 to February 5, 2016, then go on another 16-week recess until May 23.
But the Palace is not giving up and is likely to intensify lobbying efforts to convince lawmakers to approve the administration’s priority bill before the current Congress adjourns for the 2016 election campaign.
In an open letter to Congress, the Aquino administration’s chief negotiators and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (GPH–MILF) peace panels also pleaded with the senators and congressmen to “stop wasting time and work” on the immediate passage of the BBL.
“Time is short, but there is still time,” GPH Peace Panel Chairman Prof. Miriam Coronel–Ferrer and MILF Peace Panel Chairman Mohagher Iqbal said in a joint letter addressed to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“We ask our legislators to work for the immediate passage of the draft law on the Bangsamoro. Time is of the essence, and opportunity knocks only once,”
The two negotiators added: “We are at the cusp of closing a major armed conflict that has divided our people for decades. But we cannot reach our destination without the goodwill and show of statesmanship from our leaders in the august halls of Congress, in whose hands the legislative power lies.”
They pointed out that the Bangsamoro law aims to “establish a more representative and responsive autonomous government correcting the structural flaws” found in the current ARMM.
“[The BBL] will sustain the development initiatives that have flourished under the current cease-fire and the normalization programs provided for in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro,” the two peace panel chairmen said.