BBL hurdles second reading at Senate

The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) hurdled the second reading at the Senate on Wednesday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte certified the bill as urgent.

The proposed measure that will create the Bangsamoro region is also expected to be passed in the third and final readings on Wednesday’s last session before the Congress goes into sine die adjournment.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque earlier announced that Duterte decided to certify the measure, a following the President’s meeting with lawmakers and Muslim leaders at Malacañang.

“After much deliberation, the President has decided to make the House and Senate versions of the BBL as urgent and copy of it is on its way to both houses of Congress,” Roque said in a statement.

“Once both chambers have reconciled and finalized the version, the President will sign the BBL,” he added.

However, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday said the Congress must ensure that the BBL can withstand judicial review as he expects that the would be law will be elevated to the Supreme Court.

“We must avoid the constitutional issues that led to the downfall of the previous Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008,” Drilon said in a statement.

“I want to make sure that the BBL that we will pass in Congress is 100 percent in conformity with the 1987 Constitution,” he added.