BBL not my personal monument—Aquino

ROME—President Benigno Aquino III said that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) “is not my personal monument” but he remains optimistic that a law that would give Moros and indigenous peoples in Central Mindanao their right to self-determination would be passed, hopefully still during his term.

“This is not my personal monument. I am sure (the passage of the bill) will happen. When would this happen? I hope during my time, but it not, I think having this kind of a law would be inevitable,” Mr. Aquino told reporters on Friday afternoon here, a few hours before he flew back to Manila.

The President is expected to arrive in Manila at 1:55pm Saturday, following his weeklong working visit to Paris, Rome, and the Vatican.

“I am still confident that there is still a very strong push that can be made. Of course, we’d want it to happen sooner rather than later, but at the end of the day, I think the movement towards having the BBL in its present form or with little modification is just a question of time. It will happen,” President Aquino said.

The passage of the BBL has remained stalled in Congress, with the House of Representatives grappling with the problem of lack of quorum.

READ: In the Know: BBL approval delayed in Congress

Asked if he thought if there was a deliberate move to ensure that the proposed BBL would not be passed during his term, President Aquino said he does not think there was “a deliberate move although some quarters were probably encouraging it.”

“At the end of the day, next year we face elections. Even at the point that we were negotiating, I did say that the earlier we craft this proposed measure, and farther away from both the budget and next year’s elections, the better the chances of passing it in a timely manner and in enabling the transition authority to demonstrate the difference of their governance,” Mr. Aquino said.

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