Conflicting provisions in BBL to be tackled

THE House and Senate panels are poised to push for their respective versions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) when they meet for a bicameral conference on Monday, July 9, to July 13.

But lawmakers from both chambers of Congress agree that the final outcome of the proposed measure should be in accordance with the Constitution and will help bring peace in Mindanao.

JUDICIAL REVIEW

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, sponsor of the Senate version of the draft BBL, said the Senate Subcommittee on BBL will make sure its version will prevail in the bicameral conference committee, especially with regards to provisions in the bill that are consistent with the 1987 Constitution.

The subcommittee, which is under the Senate Committee on Local Government, is the counterpart at the bicameral level of the House Committee on Muslim Affairs, Local Government, and Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity.

Mr. Zubiri said the bill, once enacted into law, needs to withstand judicial review to prevent what happened to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain ( MoA- AD) during the Arroyo administration.

The MoA-AD once sought to establish the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity but was stalled during the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo after it was met with strong opposition. Peace talks collapsed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after the Supreme Court in 2008 issued a temporary restraining order on the draft peace agreement and later declared it unconstitutional. Some members of the MILF then staged attacks in villages in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato (officially, Cotabato).

It was in the succeeding administration of Benigno S. C. Aquino III that the MILF returned to negotiating with the Philippine government and in 2014, both sides came up with a Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro. Mr. Zubiri said the proposed BBL is the final stage of the peace process before the MILF finally surrenders its arms.

The senator from Bukidnon province also recognized the need for the involvement of security officials and President Rodrigo R. Duterte in a possible deadlock during the bicameral hearings. He stressed that whatever Congress members decide on the bill has security implications in the region.

“If we don’t comply or if the final version is flawed and gets struck down by the Supreme Court, definitely, it will endanger peace in Mindanao,” Mr. Zubiri said.