Differences of BBL in Senate, House versions can be fixed—Drilon

Senator Franklin Drilon INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

Even if several significant differences in the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) versions of Senate and House of Representatives have been identified, Senate Minority leader Franklin Drilon said that both chambers of congress can fix it.

Drilon said in a statement on Saturday, Senate’s BBL includes the 39 North Cotabato municipalities as part of the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro. On the other hand, the House version removed these towns from Bangsamoro’s core areas.

Several provisions in the Senate version is missing from the House version, including Drilon’s proposals which the Senate adopted.  Senate removed certain measures, such as the provisions regarding the Bangsamoro government’s power and the power to conduct investigations in aid of legislation.

Drilon also noted that the Senate added a provision stating that the Bangsamoro people are citizens of the Philippines, which is absent in the House version.

Also, the upper chamber pushes for a 50-50 share between the national government and the Bangsamoro in terms of government taxes collected in the proposed region, while the House places it at 25 percent for national government and 75 percent for Bangsamoro.

Drilon believes that both chambers would have to work hard together to reconcile these differences. However, the senator said that he thinks that the issues would be “smoothened out” once the bicameral conference committee is convened. /jpv

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