HOLDING ON TOGETHER A business forum on the Bangsamoro Basic Law at Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City brings together Economic Cluster of the National Peace Summit head Jaime Augusto Zobel Ayala II, Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal and Philippine Business for Social Progress chair Manuel V. Pangilinan. RICHARD A. REYES
Lawmakers went through the motions of voting on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in the House of Representatives on Monday after a meeting in Malacañang on Sunday that chose the version of the bill to pass.
The Inquirer has obtained two versions of the draft BBL, one by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the BBL committee in the House, and another by Davao del Norte Rep. Anthony G. del Rosario.
A source said the two versions were shown to President Aquino, who presided over the meeting at the Palace.
Aquino, the source said, was directly involved in the forging of a consensus draft based on both the Rodriguez and the Del Rosario versions.
The source said the consensus draft was faithful to the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) but resolved the constitutionally questionable provisions.
The meeting lasted up to 1:30 a.m. Monday, the source said.
Another source said the President had seen an earlier version of the BBL that had been circulating in the House but he “was not happy with it.”
Follow-up meeting
Sunday’s meeting between the President and his House allies was a follow-up to a meeting in Malacañang on Friday, the source said.
The meeting on Sunday included Rodriguez and key members of the BBL committee, the source said.
The BBL would establish a new autonomous region for Muslims in Mindanao, the centerpiece of the peace agreement signed by the government and the MILF last year.
President Aquino wants Congress to pass the bill by June, before Congress adjourns, to give enough time to prepare for a plebiscite in which the people of Mindanao will vote on the autonomy law.
Critics of the BBL oppose an early vote, saying many of its provisions are unconstitutional, including the establishment of what they understand as a Muslim “substate” in Mindanao and powers for the Moro government that could lead to secession.
It took a week to deal with the contentious provisions of the draft bill, with Rodriguez asking members of the BBL committee to propose amendments for consideration in a section-by-section vote.
Del Rosario introduced amendments on behalf of the Liberal Party members in the House and their allies.
The introduction of 717 amendments led to the postponement of the vote last Tuesday. The vote was postponed to give committee members time to study the proposed amendments, Del Rosario said.
Working draft
It was his version, which retained the original draft of the BBL but with a few amendments, that provided muscle for an acceptable working draft.
Del Rosario’s amendments consist mainly of reworded provisions relating to the supposed duplication of constitutional bodies; sharpened definitions of key terminologies like “assymetric relations”; a provision that gives assurance of the participation of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA); and refinements of the provisions relating to the option of localities contiguous to the proposed Bansamoro territory to join the autonomous region.
Del Rosario explained that his amendments sought to preserve the intentions of the government and the MILF in designing Moro autonomy in Mindanao.
After a week’s delay, Rodriguez’s committee called the vote Monday.
Voting begins
By turns contentious and farcical, the members began voting on individual amendments after agreeing to adopt a working draft that was mostly “agreeable” to President Aquino.
Rodriguez said the panel members presented the final “chair and vice chairpersons’ working draft” to Aquino on Sunday and that the President was amenable to many of the changes—but not all of them.
That made the panel entertain changes proposed by other lawmakers that were not included in the working draft.
But political battle lines were clearly drawn as administration allies voted down all major amendments to the draft, including a plethora of changes introduced by Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat, one of the most vocal opponents of the BBL in the House.
“If this is a game, I’m playing the game,” he said at one point before launching an almost farcical campaign to get even one amendment approved.
He failed.
Lobregat asked for the inclusion of the word “internal” before “self-determination” in the preamble on the aims of the BBL, saying adding “internal” would make it impossible for the Bangsamoro to secede.
The motion was defeated, 32-11.
Lobregat also sought the addition of a definition of “contiguous areas” in the bill, such that “water or air contiguity would not apply,” but his amendment was also defeated, 28-8.
He proposed to delete a section placing inland waters under the preservation and management of all inland waters, arguing that this would affect electricity in Mindanao. Again, he lost by a huge margin.
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.
At this point, Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal, one of the vice chairs, moved to adopt the working draft, drawing an immediate objection from Lobregat.
The 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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