BBL still alive, but barely

After pronouncing the death of the Bangsamoro bill, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. now says there may be a slim chance to approve it.

Marcos, chair of the local government committee, said one way a Bangsamoro bill could be passed is if the House of Representatives adopts the Senate’s revised version of it during the bicameral conference committee hearings.

Marcos is the sponsor of the revised Senate bill which is still the subject of interpellations from Senators.

Earlier this week, Marcos said Congress ran out of time to approve it, citing the difficulties of reconciling the House version and the revised Senate version of the bill granting an expanded autonomous homeland to Muslims in Mindanao.

Senate version

But Marcos said he could speed up the Senate interpellation period.

“In our version, if we finish the period of interpellation I think we can find a compromise so we no longer have to debate on the proposed amendments in the plenary,” Marcos said in a statement.

Senators could send him their proposed amendments, agree on what could be made, and let the committee propose these in order to accelerate the process, he added.

Nevertheless, he pointed out that the fate of the bill also hinged on the actions of the House of Representatives.

“But I don’t know how things will go in the House of Representatives. The House terminated the debates on their own version of the bill before adjourning for the Christmas break,” he said.

He also continued to point out obstacles to the measure. He said that even if both houses of Congress approve their versions of the bill, the Bicameral Conference Committee could find it difficult to reconcile the conflicting provisions of the measures given the limited time.

But the process could be speeded up if the House adopts the Senate version of the bill, he suggested.