House panel chief doubts prospect of undoing BBL deletions as MILF requests

From InterAksyon (Aug 11): House panel chief doubts prospect of undoing BBL deletions as MILF requests



Representative Rufus Rodriguez.

The head of the panel in the House of Representatives that deliberated on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) said it would be difficult to give way to the request of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to restore the 28 deleted provisions in the measure.

"We will discuss it first, of course, but, frankly, this has gone through 51 committee hearings and through debates in the ad hoc committee, by a vote of 50 in favor. These particular amendments and deletions were approved. I'd say it would be difficult to accede," Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez said.

"We always appeal to them to accept these amendments because these are, in fact, beneficial to them. We are confident that this substitute bill will be constitutional, it will conform to the 1987 Constitution," he added.

On Tuesday, leaders of the House of Representatives led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. met with MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal and Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles to discuss the MILF request contained in a letter with 14 signatories led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal.

Among the provisions deleted which they want restored: 

• the limitations on budget and auditing;

• the opt-in provision for other adjacent areas to join the Bangsamoro territory after a plebiscite;

• the presence of a "wali" or figurehead...

• the formation of their own internal police and military command.
In Iqbal's view, that kind of a  committee report will leave them with a Bangsamoro that is "lesser than the ARMM," referring to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which was created by law as an offshoot of the 1996 peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF broke away.

Still, Iqbal stressed, they have no plans to back out of the peace process despite their disagreements with lawmakers.

"We are not going to that extent. We are not discussing about that; peacemaking is a continuing dialogue and you cannot cut corners."

For his part, Rodriguez explained that the leadership decided to remove all the opt-in provisions as it expected rough sailing for the bill - what with congressmen coming from arreas adjacent to the Bangsamoro becoming so worried "this provision might reach them over the years."

He stressed that the amendments are being made to make the final outcome constitutional, a point that Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales weighed in on, saying "we in the House...[want a law that is] constitutionally compliant."

Plenary debates in both chambers

Plenary debates on the BBL are expected to resume on the House floor.  At least 15 lawmakers are listed to interpellate. Plenary debates among senators are also expected soon.

In the Senate, the majority of two panels, or 17 senators, signed on the draft committee report prepared by the office of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., allowing him to file the report and have it scheduled for plenary deliberations.

Marcos explained on Monday that several of the signatories stressed it did not mean they were approving of the revised bill, but only wanted to speed up the process so it can finally be tackled in plenary.

Marcos described the report as reflecting revisions in "80 percent" of the original.

[News 5 video report]

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/115834/house-panel-chief-doubts-prospect-of-undoing-bbl-deletions-as-milf-requests