House panel chair: Malacañang did not bribe solons to vote for BBL
Video by Noy Morcoso
The chair of the House ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) has denied allegations Malacañang bribed lawmakers to vote for the passage of the proposed measure.
Speaking to reporters, committee chair and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the bribery claim was just “black propaganda.”
“That is certainly false. That is black propaganda. There is no promise of anything. The detractors of this bill have always sent information like that,” Rodriguez said.
“There is no truth to that. There will be no offer. There has been no offer. There will be none. And there will be none which will be accepted.”
The lawmaker cited an alleged incident where Malaysian authorities paid off members of the House of Representatives at P50 million each in exchange for supporting the bill.
He said no money from Malacañang was given as well to supporters of the proposed law.
“We are wiser than that. There is no offer from Malacañang. There is no money involved. We are voting for this because the Bangsamoro needs this law for their development,” Rodriguez said.
Citing a source, a report by The Daily Tribune on Wednesday said that during President Benigno Aquino III’s meetings with Rodriguez and other lawmakers about the BBL draft on Friday and Sunday, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad allegedly offered lawmakers P50 million in projects and P1 million in cash should they vote in favor of the bill.
Rodriguez confirmed that Abad was in their meetings with the President but he was there to iron out the bill’s budgetary provisions, particularly the annual block grant for the Bangsamoro.
“There is an annual four percent block grant that should be clarified by him,” he said.
The amended BBL draft was approved by the committee 50-17, with one abstention, on Wednesday.
The BBL, which is a priority measure of the Aquino government, creates a new entity which will replace Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. RC
