MALACAÑANG expressed gladness over passage on third and final reading of the bill for a Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) in both chambers of Congress, but expressed hope the measure can withstand judicial scrutiny to prevent it from suffering the same fate as the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain (MOA-AD), which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.
On Wednesday the Senate and the House of Representatives passed their versions of BBL on second and third readings in one day after the President certified the bill as urgent. The certification was issued to advance the creation of a new autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao.
Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. said they are pleased with the passage of BBL in both houses of Congress and that they also both agreed to come up with a final version of the bill during the break.
“We are very pleased that they [lawmakers] are aiming [to have] the President…sign the final BBL on the day of the Sona [State of the Nation Address] itself. So that’s it, and we are hoping that, you know, congressmen will also exert all efforts to make sure that this BBL will withstand judicial scrutiny, having learned already from the lessons of the earlier MOA-AD,” Roque said.
Crafted during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the MOA-AD was supposed to create an autonomous entity called the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, but the SC struck it down as unconstitutional.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, in pushing for a thorough discussion of the BBL’s Senate version, on Wednesday had vowed to make the bill litigation-proof, to avert its suffering the same fate as the MOA-AD.
He and Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto raised most of the substantive issues in the BBL bill, causing marathon deliberations that stretched the session to way past midnight. All of the 21 senators present, however, voted in favor of the bill shortly before 1 a.m. on Thursday.
Roque, meanwhile, noted that the President has allayed everyone’s concerns in the last meeting he had with the transition members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), and members of the House and the Senate.
The President appealed to them to agree on a “common ground.”
Sticky issues
Roque also cited some contentious issues with the BBL, such as having a separate Bangsamoro police and Bangsamoro Armed Forces—features that the President objected to.
“It seemed like the President was able to convince them that [these] cannot be allowed because that is his bare minimum,” he said.
Other contentious issues included the opt-in provision, particularly on the number of times that the plebiscite can be conducted to allow cities and provinces to share a common border with the Bangsamoro.
“Congressman [Celso L.] Lobregat only wants one. BTC wants five over a period of 25 years,” he said.
Asked if the Palace agreed to having just one plebiscite, Roque said they will wait for the final version of what will be agreed upon in the bicameral conference committee.