House starts BBL voting after Palace meet
Testy, heated debate
The debate often turned testy and heated, as lawmakers argued over practically every aspect of the proceedings, from the voting procedure to whether to do it section by section, line by line, or page by page.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares drew first blood when he questioned the adoption of the working draft, as the committee never formed a technical working group to formulate this.
He argued that Rodriguez and the vice chairs created the draft on their own without entertaining the changes proposed by other members.
Lobregat, who appeared to agree with anyone taking a stand opposed to the draft bill, supported Colmenares’ position.
Rodriguez replied that the voting was precisely to accommodate the amendments sought by the other committee members.
Article continues after this advertisementAt this point, Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal, one of the vice chairs, moved to adopt the working draft, drawing an immediate objection from Lobregat.
Article continues after this advertisementThe Oaminal motion won.
Pacquiao votes
One of those who voted for adoption of the working draft was Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquaio, who, still nursing an injured shoulder supported by a sling, strode into the hall in a rare appearance.
But the boxing hero stayed for less than an hour, after voting twice, both in favor of the ruling party position, and after some prodding by his colleagues, some of whom approached to have photos taken with him while the voting continued.
Rodriguez, in welcoming Pacquiao, called him the “hero of the Filipino people, who won over Floyd Mayweather Jr.”
Lobregat also proposed that the Bangsamoro area “shall remain an integral and inseparable part of the national territory of the Philippines as defined under the Constitution.”
“Anybody that objects to this proposal is saying Bangsamoro may or may not separate from the national government,” he said.
But his motion was defeated, 34-10.
He also tried to add more “reserved powers” retained by the national government, such as over elections, air and land transportation, and energy. But his motion was lost each and every time.
Others tried
Other lawmakers also tried to introduce amendments, most of which were shot down, including Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas’ proposal to delete “powers of the Ombudsman” from the national government’s reserved powers.
Fariñas argued that the reference would be unconstitutional, as the Ombudsman’s powers are guaranteed by the Constitution and not something that can be vested by the national government.
But he lost the vote, 11-18.
Only two amendments made it to the working draft.
Iligan City Rep. Vicente Belmonte succeeded in amending the “opt-in” provision in the section on the Bangsamoro geographical area by changing the word “contiguous areas” to “contiguous cities and provinces,” in effect removing from its coverage individual towns or barangays.
Another successful amendment was made by 1-BAP Rep. Silvestre Bello who proposed adding a clarifying phrase in a section recognizing the role of women in the decision-making bodies of the Bangsamoro.
Aquino saw draft
Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Rodriguez confirmed that Aquino was shown the working draft in a meeting in Malacañang on Sunday.
“There was an exchange of ideas, and we impressed on him certainly there has to be changes to get the support of the committee,” he said.
All in all, there were 120 changes to the original BBL draft submitted by Malacañang to Congress.
Some three or four provisions were deleted, including the powers of the Ombudsman being placed among the Bangsamoro government’s concurrent powers, the coordination protocol governing the movement of the armed forces within the Bangsamoro area, and the creation of separate bodies for auditing, elections and civil service.
“We had a good discussion,” Rodriguez said.
He said the President wanted the bill to hew as close as possible to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
“In the compromise version, he found most of them agreeable,” Rodriguez said.
Asked what Aquino found disagreeable, Rodriguez said these included some economic provisions, such as the right of the Bangsamoro government to get loans abroad.
“He said that if local governments can get loans abroad, why not the Bangsamoro?” Rodriguez said.
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