THE Senate has unanimously adopted Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 5 seeking to establish the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum.
Standing as author and sponsor of SCR 5, Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri said that both chambers of Congress and the Bangsamoro Parliament met last November to identify the most urgent legislative concerns of the Parliament. He said that the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum is an intergovernmental body tasked to help achieve and maintain genuine peace and progress for the Bangsamoro Region.
In a statement, Zubiri reported the meeting was the first step towards the establishment of the forum, saying Congress would now have better coordination with the Bangsamoro Parliament once the forum would be fully established.
The senate leader said discussions on legislative concerns for the Bangsamoro Region would easily be tackled and actions on important matters could be swiftly taken.
“As the author and sponsor of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, and as a Mindanaoan myself, I am very proud of the achievements of the interim Bangsamoro Government, that made great progress towards lasting peace for the Bangsamoro Region.”
A lot of work
ZUBIRI readily acknowledged the Bangsamoro Region had proven it could stand on its own and was fully capable of exercising autonomy during the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as the severe tropical storm Paeng.
Nonetheless, the Senate leader quickly reminded that “there remains a lot of work to be done for the Barmm [Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao], which is still in its transition stage.”
For instance, the Senate leader stressed that “most urgently” there is a need to pass the priority legislation, particularly the remaining codes of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority—such as the Electoral Code and the Local Governance Code, to name a few.
“These codes will form the foundation of the Bangsamoro Government; and it is absolutely vital that these are passed soon, as we cannot afford to extend the Bangsamoro Transition Authority anymore,” Zubiri said.
No force of law
AT the same time, the solon also emphasized the “immediate need to establish the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum to properly implement the Bangsamoro Organic Law.”
Conveying its urgency, all senators signed up as co-authors of SCR 5, taking into consideration SCR 2. Under SCR 5, the Philippine Congress shall be represented by a 5-member panel each from the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives as designated by the Speaker of the House and the Senate President, respectively.
While he acknowledged that a concurrent resolution is used for matters affecting the operations of both Houses and must be passed in the same form by the two Chambers, Zubiri noted, however, it doesn’t need the President’s signature.
Zubiri added it also doesn’t have the force of law, citing for instance that concurrent resolutions are used to fix the time of adjournment of a Congress and to express the “sense of Congress” on an issue.