They may have retired from politics, but that did not prevent four former senators from lobbying Congress to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) before it goes on recess for the Christmas break.
Ex-Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, who was a member of the Senate from 1987 to 1992 and again from 1998 to 2010, led a group which called on House leaders last week.
Pimentel, also a former Senate president, was joined by ex-Senators Heherson Alvarez, Leticia Ramos-Shahani and Santanina Rasul, as well as civil society leaders Amina Rasul, lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, religious nun Mary Arnold Noel and Peace Council member Christian Monsod.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, in a statement, called the meeting a “rare sight.”
The House, on the other hand, was represented by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Representatives Jesus Sacdalan, Sergio Apostol, Antonio Lagdameo, Pangalian Balindong, Lito Atienza, Philip Pichay, Romero Quimbo and Raymund Mendoza.
Pimentel reported that “the Speaker still wants the BBL discussed.”
The BBL, the outcome of peace negotiations between the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front will create an expanded homeland or Bangsamoro for Muslim Filipinos with greater autonomy than the current Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.
“This Congress should speed up the process of adopting the BBL. There was no expressed commitment (from the House) but we appealed to them to consider the highest interest of this nation,” he said.
He urged current lawmakers to “learn to compromise, especially with important legislative measures like the BBL.”
“I went as far as saying that politics is the art of compromise which can be extended to lawmaking,” he recalled.
On the reported lack of quorum at the House, Pimentel said “everything would be a setback for the peace process.”
“We will go back to square one and we are appealing to the younger lawmakers. We do not expect the House to just disregard the rules, but there are ways to manage things,” he added.
Shahani said “the passage of the BBL is important above all for the peace of the country.”
“The BBL process could show political will between the Moros and other Filipinos. We should be united in the passage of the BBL. It is for unity in the country, for peace,” she emphasized.
For his part, Monsod asserted that Congress had no choice but to enact the BBL as it was mandated by the 1987 Constitution.
He stressed “the source of the organic law is the Constitution. It is not like any ordinary law. The Constitution mandates them,” adding “It is not something they could or could not do.”
Senators, on the other hand, have prepared a revised version of the BBL which corrects what they say are unconstitutional provisions of the draft law.
Last August, Sen. Bongbong Marcos, chair of the Senate committee on local governments, submitted a revised version of the bill or the Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region which amended 80 percent of the draft bill.
It removed controversial provisions which would allow the Bangsamoro to have a separate Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit, Ombudsman and Commission on Human Rights. It put on hold the allocation of P17 billion in development funds for the autonomous region and provisions regarding “zones of joint cooperation” in the Sulu Sea and Moro Gulf.
Senate President Franklin Drilon had said the revised BBL would be up for discussion after Congress deliberates on the national budget for next year.
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