SPEAKER Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Thursday the perennial problem of securing a quorum in the House of Representatives was delaying the passage of the Palace-backed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Even if the House of Representatives was able to muster a quorum in the past three session days this week, Belmonte said, he was disappointed that the House had failed to resume its plenary debates and discussions on the measure.
“To be very frank, I am a little disappointed that the BBL was not given a chance to be taken up,” Belmonte told reporters.
He made his statement even as Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez backed the passage of a proposed law allowing the live broadcast of all House proceedings in state-owned PTV Channel 4 to promote further transparency.
Romualdez was referring to House Bill 4049 filed by Rep. Lito Atienza, who wants the public to witness how their representatives are performing in the chamber.
“This is a very laudable proposal. The public must witness how members of the House are performing and responding to the call of their legislative duties,” Romualdez said.
Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was bracing for the expected intense debates on the grants to the Bangsamoro government, which is expected to reach billions of pesos, when the deliberations on the BBL resumes next week.
Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile hoped he would be the last to interpellate Marcos on his substitute bill that he was still studying following his release from detention.
Meanwhile, Regional Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao appealed to lawmakers to restore the salient provisions in the original BBL while Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal said he was uncertain about the fate of the draft law.
However, MILF leaders were convinced the BBL was still alive and remained hopeful.
Hataman issued his appeal as the Senate and House prepared to resume the deliberations on the draft law which, he said, was replaced by an entirely different version.
Belmonte said the quorum problem would be solved by simply reminding the House members to attend the sessions.
“I think reminding them is enough,” Belmonte said, even as he remained optimistic that the House leadership would be able to meet its deadline in passing a BBL that is “Constitution-compliant.”
“We can’t be divisive,” Belmonte said.
“The majority has five groups and the minority has two groups. They have the capacity to stand on their own. It is a better strategy to work in harmony.”
Belmonte also said he favored the proposal of Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. for the House leadership to come up with rules and regulations to address the quorum problem, such as penalties or suspension for absentee congressmen.
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/08/28/quorum-lack-stymies-bbl-s-passage/
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