The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) can be repealed if it becomes ineffective and if there will be cessation or hostility that will prevail in the region, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said on Thursday.
“In case na ineffective at hindi maganda ang nagiging resulta (In case the law becomes ineffective and the result is no longer good),” Sotto said during the regular Kapihan sa Senado forum.
Congress has yet to ratify the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Monday in time for President Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri hopes the plebiscite will be conducted in November 2018 after the President signs the bill into law.
“Para doon sa mga kumokontra pa rin, ayaw nila dahil baka daw ganito-ganyan, may mangyaring hindi maganda, baka daw mag sarili, eh ‘di i-repeal natin,” he said.
(For those who still oppose because of some concerns, we can repeal the law.)
“Problema ba iyon? Hindi. Madali mag repeal,” he added.
(That’s not a problem. It’s easy to repeal.)
The Senate President said the Bangsamoro can be a “test case” for federalism, stressing that Charter change must not be rushed.
Sotto said BARMM’s performance, especially on the budget spending, can be assessed just two years after the implementation of the law.
“Dalawang taon more or less makikita na natin kung paano ginamit yung budget, kung paano ang takbo ng parliament nila. Ipag-palagay mo may mga error, the following year ma-co-correct.
“The following year more or less we will have a very good idea already of — if you want to call it a federal region — how it is doing, how it is doing its work. Makita natin,” he said. /jpv
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