There is a slim chance for the Senate to pass the controversial proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) with four more plenary sessions remaining before it goes into a six-week sine die adjournment.
This came as Sen. Ferdinand ‘’Bongbong’’ R. Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate local government committee, stated that ‘’there’s a lot to be done’’ as his scheduled termination today of his public hearings on the BBL might not be met.
Today’s scheduled hearing is to hear the side of local government units (LGUs) to be annexed by the proposed Bangsamoro government which had complained that they were not consulted before the BBL was drafted.
The BBL was drafted by the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Office of the President Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP).
Marcos said his plan to terminate public hearings on the BBL was thrown overboard after he failed to hear the side of at least one half of the many resource speakers on police and taxation issues in the BBL during his committee hearing yesterday.
He said resource speakers on economy, energy, women, health and environment issues, among others, were not tapped to air their views during the public hearing.
‘’There’s a lot to be done,’’ Marcos said as he agreed with observations that his committee could conduct committee hearings during the Senate’s adjournment period.
He agreed with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon that it would be difficult to pass the Senate version of the BBL before the sine die adjournment and that a second deadline - in October- should be adopted.
If the BBL is not passed in October. Marcos explained, the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) would continue to operate and ARMM officials can now file their certificates of candidacy (CoC) in October, the same month that candidates for the May 2016 national elections file their CoCs.
MANILA BULLETIN
