House leaders reiterate call for Palace to certify BBL as urgent

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas. INQUIRER file photo

Leaders of the House of Representatives have asked anew President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which is expected to solve, among others, the longstanding issue of violent extremism in Mindanao.

In a letter signed Wednesday by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and sent to reporters Thursday, the House leaders said they aim to pass the said measure on third and final reading before the sine die adjournment of Congress on June 2.

READ: House to ask Duterte to certify BBL as urgent

Earlier, the Senate also asked Duterte to certify their version of the BBL as urgent.

READ: Senate asks Duterte anew to certify BBL as urgent

On Tuesday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the President would certify the BBL as urgent “anytime soon.”

READ: Palace: Duterte to certify BBL as urgent ‘anytime soon’

House Bill 6475, which seeks to establish a new Bangsamoro political entity and provide for its basic structure of government, has been approved at the committee level by the lower chamber, while its countermeasure in the Senate, SB 1717, is still pending on second reading.

If certified as urgent, the said bills do not need to undergo the three-day layover rule between its passage on second and third reading. /jpv