A list of nine provisions the chairman of the House of
Representatives panel reviewing the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law said “must be
removed or deleted” if the measure is to stand a chance of passage was made
public Friday by a member of the chamber.
Pangasinan Representative Kimi Cojuangco released the list
of provisions, which she said she sourced from the ad hoc committee’s
secretariat, in a post on her Twitter account Friday.
In her post, Cojuangco, who is critical of the BBL, said:
"Unconstitutional provisions of the BBL. These will be amended so BBL can
be signed into law. If unacceptable, then game over."
Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, who chairs
the 75-member ad hoc committee on the BBL, said eight of the provisions are
“unconstitutional” and the ninth is “unacceptable to the members (of the House
of Representatives) from Mindanao .”
Following the January 25 Mamasapano incident, Congress
suspended deliberations on the BBL, which would create a new autonomous
Bangsamoro homeland as part of the peace agreement between the government and
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with some lawmakers saying they would oppose
its passage.
However, President Benigno Aquino III has repeatedly called
on Congress to speed up the measure’s passage, saying it would ensure lasting
peace in Mindanao after decades of conflict.
The MILF, on the other hand, has insisted that a watered down version of the
BBL would not be acceptable.
Congress has said it might pass the BBL by July, although
some lawmakers have cautioned that there is no guarantee the deadline would be
met.
Rodriguez said five of the provisions he wants removed would
“will interfere with the functions and operations of independent constitutional
commissions,” such as the Commission on Elections and Commission on Audit.
The ninth provision, on the other hand, would allow a
plebiscite in any territory contiguous to the proposed Bangsamoro region where
10 percent of the population seeks inclusion in the new entity, which Rodriguez
said would “allow a creeping expansion of the Bangsamoro region.”
The ad hoc committee will meet at the end of the month to
continue its deliberations and hopes to bring the proposed BBL to plenary when
Congress resumes session on May 4.....
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