Visayan bloc in House to vote as one on Bangsamoro bill

The 42-strong Visayan bloc in the House of Representatives will be voting as one on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), its head Negros Occidental Representative Albee Benitez said Tuesday.

In a press conference, Benitez said the bloc decided that it would be best if they voted as a group.

“All members of the Visayan bloc will vote as one,” Benitez said.

This means the bloc of Visayan lawmakers, or 42 of almost 290 members in the chamber, may be a swing vote on the House long dominated by administration allies.

READ: 44% vs BBL: Gov’t needs Plan B

Benitez noted that the bloc crossed party lines.

He said they had members from the administration’s Liberal Party (LP), Nationalist People’s Coalition, and National Unity Party and no members from the opposition United Nationalist Alliance. Benitez is from President Benigno Aquino III’s LP.

The House is set to vote for the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro law that would create a more politically autonomous Bangsamoro region that would supplant the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM.

BACKSTORY: Congress to pass BBL in June

This after the ad hoc Bangsamoro committee passed on first reading a version of the bill approved by Malacanang, rousing criticisms that the panel railroaded a mostly Palace version of the bill that seeks to implement a government peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

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