Palace defends BBL version, says stakeholders consulted

Following the submission of a Senate committee report on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law and a substitute bill by Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Malacañang on Wednesday said its original version was inclusive in the first place.

“Even if we had negotiations with the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front), the perspective was to make sure that no one would be left behind,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a briefing.

Lacierda said the series of negotiations held on the proposed BBL and the comprehensive framework on the Bangsamoro “took into consideration all the stakeholders whether you’re a Lumad, you’re a Christian, or Muslim.”

“Everyone was involved,” he said.

“We haven’t seen the proposed bill submitted by Senator Bongbong Marcos, but from the very outset, we have taken all the stakeholders into consideration,” he explained.

On Monday, several senators signed the committee report while Marcos said he will sponsor the bill, which he called “all-inclusive.”

READ: Marcos: 17 senators sign report on proposed Bangsamoro law

He said his version “carried the applicable advocacies, positions and proposals of all the stakeholders.”
 

Asked if Malacañang was worried that representatives have reportedly been skipping plenary sessions to deliberately delay the passage of the bill, Lacierda said he does not want to “speculate on the motivations of the anti-BBL legislators.”

“We’ve always stated that when we put the BBL into the hands of the legislature, there was a recognition that the BBL will be deliberated on, and so we’re certainly hopeful that the congressmen will come up with the BBL based upon their deliberations,” he said.

The proposed BBL is a product of years of peace negotiations with the MILF.

Once passed into the law, the BBL will be the basis for the creation of a political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

President Benigno Aquino III has been encouraging lawmakers to pass the bill ahead of the 2016 elections for adequate preparations for a plebiscite.