BBL substitute bill to clear Senate ‘in a month’

The Senate hopes to complete in one month deliberations on the substitute bill on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that Sen. Ferdinand Marcos will submit to the chamber when Congress returns from its break on July 27.

Senate President Franklin Drilon made this statement on Monday at the weekly Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel.

Drilon said that Marcos, who chairs the Senate local government committee, had committed to file his committee report when senators return for the third regular session of Congress next month.

“We will clear our legislative calendar to give way to the BBL which we hope to finish in one month,” Drilon said.

Both Drilon and Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who was also a guest at the forum, said they had yet to see the substitute bill that Marcos would produce.

Drilon explained that a substitute bill could come in two forms: It could contain amendments of certain provisions in the original proposed BBL or it could be an entirely new bill.

Congress adjourned its session last week, with the Senate and House unable to pass the BBL as the Palace had wanted.

The BBL debates in Congress were delayed after lawmakers suspended them so they could look into the January 25 massacre of 44 elite policemen in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Armed elements that included the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) murdered members of the Special Action Force tasked to arrest three known terrorists, including Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan.

The MILF is the main beneficiary of the BBL which in turn aims to create a new autonomous region to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Marcos had said that among the options he was considering in drafting the substitute bill include a proposal for the Senate to just amend the organic act of ARMM.