Pro-BBL solons see passage by Thursday

With four days left till Congress adjourns, proponents of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) remain upbeat the measure would be put to a vote in the House of Representatives by June 11.

Plenary debates on the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region based on the settlement reached by the administration with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume Monday, with the session starting at 4 p.m.

The debates, which began only on June 2, were usually cut short due to a lack of quorum. As of June 4, only five of the 33 lawmakers who wished to interpellate the bill’s proponents had done so.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who chaired the special House committee that passed the apparently Malacañang-endorsed Bangsamoro bill after marathon hearings, said he had asked Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. for help in making sure the majority of the 289 lawmakers would show up for the remaining plenary sessions.

“I have already discussed that matter with Speaker Belmonte. I told him if we would be able to keep the quorum for the next four days from 4 p.m. to midnight, we would be able to beat the June 11 deadline,” Rodriguez said.

He was referring to Malacanang’s timetable for the House and the Senate to pass their respective versions of the BBL by June 11 so a final law could be approved when Congress resumes sessions on July 27.

The President reportedly wants to include the approval of the Bangsamoro law in his final State of the Nation Address on that day.

Rodriguez said the House was waiting for the President’s official pronouncement certifying House Bill No. 5881 as urgent.

This means that after they vote in the plenary on second reading, the lawmakers could immediately vote on the bill on third and final reading.