MANILA: The long-delayed draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will be submitted to the House of Representatives before President Aquino leaves for his European trip on Sept 13, it was learned yesterday.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said this means it will be submitted anytime now, or between now and the date of Aquino’s departure for Europe, when he will visit France, Belgium, Germany and Spain.
The promise to present the draft measure, which Aquino is expected to certify as urgent, came from Secretary Teresita Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, who declared the BBL as a done deal. “The draft BBL is now undergoing final stages of refinement. By the estimate of Moro Islamic Liberation Front panel and Bangsamoro Transition Commission chair Mohagher Iqbal, the draft bill is now 99.99 percent done,” Deles said in a statement.
According to Deles, the draft BBL “was completed almost two weeks ago.” “On the basis of the President’s comments, there were further discussion and exchange of notes between Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) and the Office of the President, the results of which were also submitted to the President,” she said.
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