A joint panel in the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law which abolishes the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The House committee on local government voted 32-3 while the committees on Muslim affairs and the special panel on peace, reconciliation and unity voted 27-3 each in favor of House Bill 6475 authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
This developed as House majority leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the House was eyeing the bill’s passage on third and final reading on May 30 or before Congress adjourns sine die on June 1.
“We are eyeing its passage on May 30 before the end of session,” Fariñas told reporters.
Fariñas said the House would hold an all-party caucus next week to fine-tune the bill which provides the basic law for the Bangsamoro political entity and abolishes the ARMM.
During the joint committee hearing, deputy majority leader and Pampanga Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc assured Zamboanga Rep. Celso Lobregat, the staunch oppositor to the the BBL measure, that “amendments [on the bill will be] allowed at the proper time.”
“Do not worry, there will be no attempt to muzzle or estoppel you. We will not seek to muzzle you. Amendments will definitely be allowed at the proper time – in the caucuses and in plenary. Because otherwise, it would be very messy,” Bondoc said.
“The House leadership will be very willing to listen,” he added.
Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan, chairperson of the House committee on peace, reconciliation and unity, said she was hopeful President Duterte would certify the BBL as an urgent measure to enable Congress to enact the proposed measure and the President to have it signed into law by June 1.
“This will be a best gift for us as we celebrate the Holy Muslim month of Ramadan,” Sangcopan said.
For his part, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte urged the Senate and the House to conduct “marathon sessions” to expedite the bill’s passage.
“We need to speed up the approval of the BBL but this does not mean that we should do it in a haphazard manner. We can hold sessions even on Thursdays and Fridays until late at night to speed up the bill’s approval,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said fast-tracking the approval of BBL “would clear the way to President Duterte’s vision for the long-elusive peace in Mindanao and rapid economic development, especially in the island’s poorest provinces.”
“We need to work overtime so we can go over its provisions and ensure that the law becomes an effective tool in bringing genuine autonomy to our Muslim brothers,” said Villafuerte.
Alvarez’s HB 6475 is among the four BBL proposals filed at the Lower House under the present 17th Congress.
The other three BBL bills are HB 92, 6121, and 6263 authored by deputy speaker and Maguindanao Rep. Bai Sandra Sema, former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo, respectively.
President Duterte earlier vowed to pass the BBL measure during his term.
The proposed BBL, an enabling law of a 2014 agreement between the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, seeks to usher peace and prosperity in Mindanao through the creation of a Bangsamoro juridical entity.