The Senate building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
After holding marathon sessions, the Senate finally approved on third and final reading the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Around 1 a.m. on Thursday, twenty-one senators voted to approve Senate Bill 1717 or “An Act Providing for the Basic Law for the Bangsamoro and Abolishing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”
READ: ‘There shall be a Bangsamoro country’
Senator Leila de Lima and Senator Manny Pacquiao were not present to cast their votes. De Lima is detained at Camp Crame and Pacquiao is training for his next fight.
The House of Representatives earlier passed its version of the measure, which was certified urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The two chambers will then meet in a bicameral conference committee to reconcile their versions of the bill.
The final version of the measure will be sent back to both chambers for ratification before it can be transmitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for signature.
Congressional leaders expect the bill to be signed into law in time for Duterte’s state of the nation address in July.
Malacañang has expressed confidence that the President will sign the proposed measure into law.