Palace denies Aquino bribed lawmakers for BBL approval

“If you are asking for any quid pro quo (something given in return for something done), there is none,” Malacañang said Wednesday following reports that President Benigno Aquino III offered incentives to lawmakers in exchange for the passage of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

The House ad hoc committee on the BBL approved the controversial draft on Wednesday afternoon, almost four months after the Mamasapano operation, which almost jeopardized the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

READ: House panel approves BBL draft

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the only reward promised by Aquino was peace, as well as prosperity, in Mindanao.

“You know the President’s belief is that we need to change the system in Muslim Mindanao. We have already said previously that ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) is a failed experiment,” he explained.

The new political entity that will be created based on the BBL is a product of the government’s peace negotiations with the MILF. It will replace the ARMM, which was created through an earlier peace deal with the Moro National Liberation Front.

Lacierda said the BBL will allow the “framework of peace” in Mindanao to move forward.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer earlier reported that Aquino met with lawmakers on Sunday. The meeting, which supposedly ended at 1:30 a.m., resulted in a “consensus draft.”

READ: House starts BBL voting after Palace meet

“And so what we see right now is the — what we saw last Monday is a — the fruitful deliberation of what happened over the weekend,” Lacierda said.

The spokesperson denied that Aquino offered incentives to lawmakers during the meeting. However, he said he has no knowledge on the issues or specific provisions tackled during the meeting.

He said Malacañang was aware that time was running out and that they needed to “catch up,” especially since the the 2016 elections is approaching.

“If the BBL is passed, there will be — under the Constitution, the requisite referendum that has to happen. And so we are seeing all these timetable[s] and certainly we were a bit delayed because of the unfortunate Mamasapano incident,” he said.