Palace: BBL a top priority of Duterte admin

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella (Presidential file photo by ALBERT ALCAIN)

Malacañang on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte has assured the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) remains to be a “high priority” of his administration.

Duterte on Monday met with MILF officials, including chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) chair Ghazali Jaafar, and MILF peace implementing panel chair Mohagher Iqbal in Malacañang.

The meeting came two days after the MILF slammed the Duterte administration for “noncompliance” with signed peace agreements with the rebel group, as it pointed out that no lawmaker has sponsored the proposed BBL.

READ: Wanted: Lawmaker to sponsor bill on Bangsamoro Region

“The President assured them he considers this high-priority and vital to the future of Mindanao and the nation,” Abella said in a Palace briefing.

BACKSTORY: Duterte vows Bangsamoro ‘homeland’ in 3 years

The proposed BBL was not listed among the administration’s priority measures during a meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) on August 29.

But Malacañang had earlier said it would be tackled during the next Ledac meeting on September 20.

Abella said the President would discuss the proposed BBL in a meeting with Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

The 21-man Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) submitted its final draft of the proposed measure to Duterte in Malacañang on July 17 and was submitted to Congress a month after. IDL