No incentive or reward was offered by President Aquino to congressmen in exchange for the swift approval of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Malacañang said yesterday.
“Peace and prosperity in Mindanao – that’s the end goal of the BBL. I mean, if you are asking for any quid pro quo, there is none,” Lacierda said about the President’s meeting with several congressmen on the BBL last Sunday.
Lacierda said that during the meeting, the President stressed the “need to catch up” on the BBL deliberations to meet the goal of peace in Mindanao.
“The President’s belief is that we need to change the system in Muslim Mindanao. We have already said previously that ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) is a failed experiment. We have established a framework for peace, a framework for development, and the BBL is the moving legislation to effect that moving forward – the peace and prosperity in Mindanao. That’s the only reason for the President making a push for the BBL,” he said.
The President met several lawmakers, including members of the House ad hoc Committee on the BBL scrutinizing the BBL provisions, behind closed doors in Malacañang last weekend, to make a final appeal for the approval of the measure. The meeting, held prior to the voting of the BBL draft by the special House panel, triggered speculations that Aquino had been pressuring Congress to railroad the measure in exchange of incentives.
There were claims that at the Sunday meeting, P50 million in projects and P1 million in cash were offered for each congressman supporting the BBL.
Asked what prompted the President’s meeting with the lawmakers, Lacierda said: “We should recognize the fact that time is getting short.” He acknowledged that the Mamasapano tragedy delayed the timetable of the peace process.”
Manila Bulletin
