Duterte breaks deadlock on BBL jurisdiction
THE deadlock on the territorial jurisdiction of the proposed Bangsamoro region was finally resolved on Wednesday with the provisions of the House of Representatives being adopted in the final version of the bill.
“Pleased to announce that the President facilitated the passage of the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law) by convincing the two Houses of Congress to adopt the House version of the BBL providing that the six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and the 39 barangays of North Cotabato could vote to join the BBL territory in a referendum to be conducted on the mother territory of the areas involved,” presidential spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in part in his text message to reporters.
“Provisions and the decisions of the Supreme Court in the case of Umali, the passage of the BBL has been assured. PRRD (President Rodrigo R. Duterte) will sign the BBL law before the SONA (State of the Nation Address),” Mr. Roque added.
He was referring to a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that, as House Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas explained, ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct a plebiscite for all registered voters in Nueva Ecija, not just those from Cabanatuan City, on whether to approve Cabanatuan City as a highly-urbanized city.
“In the same manner, the House bill provides that in the case of the 39 barangays in North Cotabato, the municipalities to which they belong shall participate in the plebiscite,” Mr. Fariñas said in a phone message to reporters.
The contentious provisions on the proposed Bangsamoro territory concerned the inclusion of six municipalities in Lanao del Norte and 39 barangays in North Cotabato. The areas involved are part of the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
In the House version, the six municipalities in Lanao del Norte needed the approval of the province before being included in the proposed Bangsamoro region. The 39 barangays in North Cotabato also needed the approval of their respective municipalities as well.
Meanwhile, the Senate version did not provide for the approval of the concerned province or municipalities. If the citizens in the six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and the 39 barangays of North Cotabato voted in favor of their inclusion in the Bangsamoro territory, their areas will be automatically be part of the Bangsamoro region. The Senate version adapted the provisions proposed by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC).
The lawmakers sought the advice of the President on the Bangsamoro territory on Wednesday following the deadlock between the House and Senate panels last Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, Senator Aquilino L. Pimentel III, House Majority Leader Fariñas, House Deputy Speaker Bai Sandra A. Sema, and Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Q. Dimaporo were present in the Wednesday meeting with Mr. Duterte.