The
Philippine News Agency (PNA) quoted President Benigno Aquino III saying he
would continue to lobby with members of Congress for the passage of the
proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) under his watch. Aquino’s statement on
Tuesday came at a time both Chambers of Congress are deliberating the proposed
Bangsamoro Law.
“We
will continue to lobby with members of Congress to pass the law during our
watch and pass it at the earliest possible time so that the new mode of
governance will have the maximum time to show the effectivity or the efficacy
of this new mode of governance,” the President said in an interview with
Inquirer multi-media.
Despite the
difficulties and snail-pace deliberations on the BBL that hampers
its immediate passage, President Aquino said both Senate President Franklin
Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte have expressed confidence that the
measure will be passed.
“So, on the
Executive’s portion, we would want to continue the engagement of our dialogue
partners, specifically the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and programs,
through programs like Sajahatra, we want them to experience and the population
in general in this region the benefits or the so-called peace dividends arising
from this agreement,” he told the Inquirer people.
The
President, however, is hoping that even in the absence of the Bangsamoro law,
Congress will support the initiatives “that will shower these people with the
peace dividends and get them further engaged in the process.”
President
Aquino believes that war will not break out in Mindanao
despite the delay in the passage of the Bangsamoro bill.
“I don’t
submit to the premise that war will break out. I don’t think there is any
interest from the major players to re-engage in a bloody conflict,” the
President said.
“Having
said that, there will be the spoilers who will want to exploit the current
difficulties to show that their avowed aims of gaining what they want through
violent means is the only way to go about it,” he added.
The
President urged peace advocates to “really even redouble our efforts to thwart
these groups who would want us to branch again into really a pointless
conflict.”
The MILF
have also said that it will continue to engage the government a viable and
peaceful settlement of the Mindanao Question even if the BBL is not passed
under Aquino’s term.
“So, who
should be blamed? I think I’ll leave that up to the Filipino people who will
have an opportunity in next year’s elections to gauge the merit, or lack of it,
of the people who will propose themselves to lead various offices,” he added.
Earlier,
Belmonte admitted that lack of quorum has been obstructing their efforts to
finish the plenary debates on the BBL.
In the
Senate, Senators Pia Cayetano, Teofisto Guingona III and Loren Legarda have
already finished interpellating the bill’s sponsor, Senator Ferdinand
‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.
Marcos,
chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, submitted a substitute
bill which he called the Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR).
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