MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. assured the people yesterday that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is not dead despite the suspension by the House of Representatives of the deliberations on the proposed measure following the killing of 44 police commandos in an encounter with Moro rebels in Maguindanao last Jan. 25.
The ad hoc committee, which is writing the draft BBL for plenary approval, has indefinitely suspended its executive sessions after lawmakers and some political blocs in the House sought to defer the deliberations on the bill pending the results of the investigations into the Mamasapano encounter, where members of the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Special Action Force (SAF), three civilians and an undetermined number of Moro rebels were killed.
The Senate has begun its probe into the incident while the House will start today its own inquiry.
Cagayan de Oro Rep Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the ad hoc committee on the BBL, said the panel will review the incident reports as submitted by the PNP, the Armed Forces, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
“I didn’t say that the BBL will not pass, only that it cannot make the original deadline,” Belmonte said in a text message, referring to the previous timetable of the House to approve the measure next month.
He said he remains optimistic the chamber will be able to pass the landmark measure that seeks to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao in the coming months.
Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II on Monday said he urged members of the ad hoc panel to resume their work and let Ferrer’s committee focus on investigating the incident.Belmonte said he would ask the House committee on peace and order, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, to speed up its inquiry so the ad hoc panel can resume deliberations soon.
The chief peace negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday said he is saddened by the suspension of congressional deliberations on the draft BBL.
Mohaquer Iqbal, concurrent chairman of the MILF-led Bangsamoro Transition Commission, said they have mixed feelings on the suspension of the congressional initiative to enact into law the draft BBL supposedly within the first quarter of 2015.
“That is what the Lower House wants. We’re on a ‘wait-and-see stance’ now,” Iqbal told reporters.
Iqbal emphasized, however, that the MILF respects the decision of the 75-member ad-hoc committee. He said they are hoping the deliberations on the BBL would soon resume.
The Philippine Star
