LAWMAKERS questioned the rush to pass the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law with one congressman saying Malacañang was pushing Congress to pass a constitutionally-infirm measure by June 11 just so President Benigno Aquino III could be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
“We are under the impression that the BBL being rushed so that [Aquino] can get recognition for a Nobel Peace Prize. This bill is being rushed so he can mention it as an accomplishment in his last [State of the Nation address],” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate told The Standard.
Zarate scored his colleagues in the House for succumbing to pressure from the Palace to pass a constitutionally-flawed BBL just to satisfy Aquino’s desire to claim credit for a process that has been ongoing for 18 years.
“Railroading the passage of the BBL is not giving justice to the peace process,” Zarate said, even as he slammed the Aquino administration for making it appear that those questioning the BBL, as submitted by Malacañang, are against peace.
“If you do not support BBL, you are made out to be anti-peace. But If you support the BBL, you are for peace. This is not the way things should be towards the self-determination of the BBL,” Zarate said.
Zarate made the remarks after House ways and means committee chairman and Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo said the 18 years of negotiations on the peace pact will be wasted if Congress does not pass the measure by June 11.
“We need to pass the BBL by June, otherwise all discussion will be useless because it will no longer be implemented,” Quimbo said, claiming that that was the reason Senate and House leaders “sealed” an agreement the other day to pass the BBL by June 11.
But Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles denied that congressmen are against peace in Mindanao.
“No one is blocking peace in Mindanao. All of us want a Bangsamoro Law that will usher peace in Mindanao but after the Mamasapano incident, we should be careful on the approval of the law,” Nograles added.
“The lawmakers want to discuss it page by page, we have a lot of input and we will vote on the proposal. Some solons even proposed voting section by section,” Nograles said at a news conference.
Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat agreed with Nograles and said 80 to 90 percent of congressmen are “not in favor of passing the BBL untouched.”
“Even to a word by word [discussion]. In the very first line in the preamble there was already a lengthy discussion,” Lobregat said.
Lobregat also expressed serious concern over said ‘unconstitutional’ provisions in the BBL such as a block grant that will be automatically appropriated for the proposed Bangsamoro entity and the question on the proper body that shall be given the authority to audit the spending of the new funds for the soon-to-be established Bangsamoro entity.
Under the proposed BBL, the Bangsamoro entity is supposed to get an initial funding of about P70 billion in its first year of operation, but Lobregat said that would be illegal and akin to pork barrel or lump-sum funds.
“It is like a lump-sum, [Internal Revenue Allotment], but the IRA of the local government is subjected to [Department of Budget and Management]guidelines… but [this block grant is not] bound by any DBM guidelines,” Lobregat said.
“It will not pass through Congress. And worse, it will not be subject to DBM rules. You know, I came from the local government and before we approve our budget, we have to follow certain guidelines of the DBM,” said Lobregat, a former Zamboanga mayor.
At the Senate, Senator Francis Escudero, chairman of the senate finance committee, confirmed that the Bangsamoro will get a P70-billion budget, a spending package even bigger than all the country’s security forces.
Escudero said the MILF was good in negotiating because they were able to get everything they wanted included in the BBL, “wo my question is what can the government and majority of the Filipino gain?”
The senator said he supports the BBL, but Congress has to repair the infirmities that have surfaced so the passage of the measure should not be given a time-frame.
Escudero cited the BBL provision which states the Shari’a High Court’s decision shall be final and executory, but that violates the Constitution which provides that only the Supreme Court has the final say in legal matters and has the sole right to review all cases.
“The rule of judicial procedure solely lies within the power of SC, as provided by the Constitution. Not even Congress can pass a law to interfere with the Constitution,” he pointed out.
Escudero said the Mamasapano clash should serve as an eye-opener for lawmakers to further scrutinize the provisions of the BBL.
“I believe we should be grateful to the SAF 44 who gave up their lives for the country and paved the way for us to look into the details of the peace process because if this incident did not happen, the BBL could have been passed effortlessly and we will be bombarded with this problem one day,” Escudero said.