‘Collective inaction’: Ferrer speaks her mind on BBL

THE GOVERNMENT’s chief negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front acknowledged yesterday the failure of the enactment of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

In a statement immediately notable for its candor and diction, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said, “Let me state the fact: The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), in whatever shape or form, did not make it out of the 16th Congress.”

“The sheer indifference and chronic absenteeism of majority of the legislators manifested in the lack of quorum almost on a daily basis in the House of Representatives, and the prolonged and repetitive interpellation [ by the opposition to the BBL] ate up the remaining sessions.”

“In the Senate, the intermittent absence of the bill sponsor and the remaining interpellator stalled the deliberation. Moreover, a belated change in procedure was entertained. Only last December 2015, the Senate practically conceded that the Bangsamoro bill is of local application and therefore the upper chamber should have just waited for the House version to be remanded to it.”

Ms. Ferrer noted the 40 public hearings and 14 plenary deliberations by the House Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, and the 15 public hearings and 14 sessions of plenary interpellations led by local governments committee chair Senator Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. All these, she said, “amounted to nothing, along with the millions of pesos of taxpayers’ money used up to finance these drawn- out proceedings.”

Ms. Ferrer lamented “the collective inaction of our legislators” on the BBL, and defended the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro (CAB), on which the draft law is based, as “a signed document that binds the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to their respective obligations in order to seal the peace through the legal and democratic processes and meaningful social and political reforms laid out in the document.”

Among other things, the CAB “duly takes into consideration the diverse interests of different stakeholders in the Bangsamoro region,” and “prescribes the steps and mechanisms for the transformation of conflict-affected areas and MILF camps into secure, productive communities,” she said.

Congress adjourned yesterday, ahead of next week’s election campaign period for the 2016 general elections. In his recent interviews with ANC, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon affirmed the BBL’s derailment in Congress as a result of the Mamasapano incident, whose aftermath was the biggest controversy to rock the administration of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III.

Mr. Drilon also noted the filibustering in the course of interpellation. “In our case, it is the process of interpellation because we have no cloture rule in the Senate, we cannot stop other senators from asking questions. That is why filibustering in the history of the Senate is a fact, we can filibuster to prevent the passage of a bill. That is a tradition in the bill,” the Senate leader told ANC.

Mr. Marcos has yet to issue a statement in response to Ms. Ferrer, as of this reporting. But in an interview with TV5 yesterday, he noted the delay on Malacañang’s part in sending the draft law to Congress. “That delay was eight months. They should have given it in April [2014]… But the [BBL] was sent to us, end of September… And then by January, Mamasapano happened…”

Sought for comment, Zamboanga City Representative Celso L. Lobregat (1st district) said in a phone interview: “Sila ( government peace panel) may kasalanan (they’re at fault) because they agreed to unconstitutional provisions proposed by the MILF panel. If they [stuck] to their position protecting the Constitution, we will not get into this situation… It was prolonged because there are many provisions that are not constitutional and we have to tackle them one by one.”

Mr. Lobregat also pointed out the five-month delay, by his count, in the draft law’s submission to Congress. “Hearings were suspended due to Mamasapano incident,” he added.

For his part, House Majority Leader Neptali M. Gonzales II said via text: “[Ms. Ferrer] does not have an understanding of the legislative process. Records would show that the HOR (House of Representatives) of 16th Congress was able to pass other, in fact, numerous bills of national importance. While BBL is a historic and very important bill, it is not the only legislative priority of the House.

“The lack of quorum and numerous interpellators are precisely the mode of opposing it…” Mr. Gonzales also said. He noted too the delay in the submission of the draft law.

“Lastly, it was unfortunate that there were numerous, controversial… unconstitutional provisions which were included without consulting the leadership of Congress. Finally, the real death blow of BBL was the Mamasapano incident.”

Political analyst Ramon B. Casiple, executive director of the Consortium on Electoral Reforms, said via text: “I think the BBL failed to get sufficient support from legislators who may have complications in their electoral bid and who noticed that OPAPP (Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) and the government negotiating panel failed to attend most of the consultations on their legislative districts.” — with