House OKs BBL bill, but Senate introduces ‘contentious’ changes
The Bangsamoro people shall be considered “citizens of the Republic of the Philippines,” and their area in Mindanao shall be their “territorial jurisdiction,” instead of their “core territory.”
These were among the “contentious” changes introduced by the Senate to the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) during the period of amendments for the bill, which was scheduled to be approved on Wednesday.
After President Rodrigo Duterte certified the bill as urgent, leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives assured him that the BBL would be submitted for his signature on July 23, the day he delivers his third State of the Nation Address.
The House beat the Senate to the draw on Wednesday and approved the proposed BBL on third and final reading.
Voting 226-11 with two abstentions, the House adopted without amendments at 5 p.m. a substitute bill based on House Bill No. 6475, authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Two other key amendments to the Senate measure were the exclusion of Palawan from the islands identified as part of the Islamic historical range, and the designation of the Bangsamoro police force as a unit of the Philippine National Police.
“Most [of the original BBL provisions] were contentious,” said Sen. Ralph Recto who, along with Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, introduced most of the amendments.
“[Its] framework to begin with is forming a state, which is unconstitutional, until we adopt a federal form of government,” Recto said.
Drilon successfully moved for the inclusion of a provision reiterating “that the Bangsamoro people are citizens of the Republic of the Philippines.” Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the bill sponsor, said this was opposed by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission.
