After fine-tuning, House sees Bangsamoro law by March

MANILA, Philippines–The House of Representatives expects the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to pass in March as it nears a consensus on weeding out provisions that appear to go against the Constitution.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the 75-member ad hoc committee on the BBL, said these included the “opt-in” clause for inclusion of adjacent barangays (villages) and municipalities in the territory, and its coverage by the Commission on Audit and the Civil Service Code.

In an interview over dzBB radio, Rodriguez said the House committee had held 30 public hearings, 20 of which were conducted in Mindanao. The committee has scheduled the 31st and 32nd hearings in Cebu and Iloilo, respectively, for this week.

The House is scheduled to resume its hearings in the Batasang Pambansa on Jan. 16 for all the governors and mayors not only of local government units in the Bangsamoro territory but also of those in adjacent provinces and cities.

Rodriguez said another hearing was scheduled for the next day where leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters had been asked to attend.

“Some of them may not be able to come because they have warrants of arrest. We are requesting that their representatives come to read their (position) papers,” he said.

Rodriguez is hopeful the committee will be able to submit the BBL for plenary debates in March. “We will have about three weeks of plenary debates. We hope to finish this by March 30.”