Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The House of Representatives will give priority to the Bangsamoro Basic Law, but it need not completely sideline other important pending measures in the plenary, according to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.
Belmonte said he hoped to have the Bangsamoro Basic Law approved on third and final reading by the end of the year.
The Palace is expected to submit the draft of the bill to Congress in when it resumes sessions in May.
The bill is key to fleshing out the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that will create a new autonomous region in Mindanao.
The agreement was hammered out between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to end decades of a secessionist rebellion in Mindanao.
“We will give it priority but not exclusivity,” Belmonte said when asked if deliberations on other measures would have to be stopped once the Bangsamoro bill reaches the floor.
The House is set to tackle several crucial measures when it returns from its break.
Plenary deliberations are expected on the controversial Charter change bill and anti-political dynasty bill, and a new budget bill is also expected to be submitted to Congress later in the year, most likely after the President’s state of the nation address.
Proponents of the freedom of information bill are also hoping to have it approved at the committee level and subjected to plenary debates before the Bangsamoro Basic Law bill makes it to the floor.
Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said Tuesday the FOI bill may not have to be shunted aside because of the Bangsamoro basic law, since the former is in a more advanced stage.
The Bangsamoro bill is expected to face some scrutiny from the minority and several Mindanao legislators as well as constitutionalists, Baguilat noted, which means it might not make it out of the committee level immediately.
The FOI bill is also still pending with the committee on public information, but he said that as long as its proponents stick to their game plan and the chair sets regular meetings, there should be no problem in getting the measure out of the committee.
But he added that the FOI bill would also have to compete with other important measures once it is presented for scrutiny by the whole House.
“We have to be vigilant for windows of opportunity in the plenary to push the FOI,” he said.
There has been a concerted campaign from various groups for Congress to approve the FOI bill, which was also a campaign promise of President Aquino. The President, though, has refused to certify it as urgent.
Belmonte earlier promised that the FOI bill would be approved by the House before the end of his term.
RELATED STORIES