Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Thursday the landmark Bangsamoro Basic Law had been passed by the body with major amendments and expressed hope the Senate version was compliant with the Constitution and withstand scrutiny by the Supreme Court.
Zubiri made the statement after the 2nd Regular Session of the 17th Congress closed early Thursday morning as the Senate went on sine die adjournment after passing its version of the BBL.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III formally announced the adjournment of the session around 2 am, due to the nearly 10-hour long deliberation on SBN 1717 or the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which was approved on third and final reading with 21-0 votes.
“With 21 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, zero abstention, Senate bill is approved on third reading,” declared Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Senators Emmanuel Pacquiao and Leila de Lima, the latter currently detained, were not present during the hearing.
In related developments:
• Bangsamoro Transition Commission chairman Mohagher Iqbal on Thursday expressed hope a better BBL would emerge after both Houses of Congress passed their versions of the measure.
Iqbal, also Moro Islamic Liberation Front implementing panel chairman, admitted the BBL version the Senate had approved was quite far from what the BTC had submitted.
“But we are hoping that [in the end] it will be basically faithful to the Comprehensive Agreement to the Bangsamoro deal signed by the government and MILF. There are areas that are somewhat quite far from [our version],” Iqbal said in an interview on Wednesday night.
• The Palace on Thursday thanked both houses of Congress for the passage of the BBL which was certified by President Rodrigo as urgent.
“We are pleased that both houses passed their respective versions of the BBL. The certification was a signal that the President considers the BBL as absolutely indispensable in the search for peace in Mindanao,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“We are pleased that both houses of Congress agreed to come up with a final version of the bill during the break,” Roque told a Palace briefing.
“We are also very pleased that they are aiming that for the President to sign the final BBL on the day of the Sona [State of the Nation Address] itself,” the Palace spokesperson said.
Zubiri, a sponsor of the bill, identified some of the amendments as the change from Bangsamoro territory to Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction.
“I’m extremely honored and elated to have passed the BBL last night that would lead to a long and just peace between the government and the MILF,” said Zubiri.
After almost 30 hours of interpellations and marathon hearings in five ARMM provinces, Zubiri said he was confident the Senate version was compliant with the Constitution.
“We have weeded out provisions that earlier muddled our intentions to improve a lot of fellow Filipinos in Muslim Mindanao,” he said.
He added: “We survived walking on a tightrope, balancing the search for peace, right to self-determination, governance and democracy and. And, we did it crossing party lines. Even at this early stage, the BBL is a legacy for all the efforts to bring about peace and progress in lands which most experienced poverty, inequity, and the war in the Philippines.”
When they finally put ink to paper, he said: “erstwhile rebels would lay down arms; that is the biggest promise we are moving to achieve with the BBL.”
Under fiscal autonomy, he said the block grant was spelled out to be 5 percent of the net collections of the BIR and Bureau of Customs, down from 6 percent.
He said it was easily the most contentious provision because it appeared that the National Government was subsidizing the Bangsamoro government at the disadvantage of Filipino taxpayers outside of the Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction.
He said Senator Ralph Recto’s proposed formula on block grants included provisions on the creation of internal auditing body to enhance transparency in governance and public accountability.
The fund, he said, shall be a “programmatic fund” – meaning the Bangsamoro Government Parliament should submit to the Budget and Management and Finance departments a program of expenditures according to a development plan.
“It was clarified that the Bangsamoro shall be treated on equal footing by the Department of Budget and Management and Bureau of Local Government Finance-DoF which reviews the expenditures plan of local governments.
It will not be automatically appropriated.
From P10 billion annually for 10 years, the SDF shall be at P5 billion a year for 10 years.
He said from the original BTC proposal of 75 percent-25 percent sharing in favor of the Bangsamoro government, the sharing was placed at 50 percent-50 percent.
This satisfied the call to treat the Bangsamoro at par with other local governments and the basic principle that a country’s natural resources belong to the State.
He also said the Senate voted to hold only one plebiscite and deleted the proposed periodic plebiscites to be held repeatedly every five years for 15 years.
Discussions in the plenary stressed the proposed BBL contained only opt-in provisions and none on opting-out.
If the BBL is defeated, the current law on the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao shall remain over the existing ARMM territorial jurisdiction.
Regarding peace efforts, he said provisions on the Bangsamoro Transition Authority and the Bangsamoro Parliament were refined to make sure extensive representation of Muslim Filipinos, Indigenous peoples and Christians, and peoples of other faiths are implemented truthfully.
A ban on political dynasties retained the original language of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission; this could stem the tide of ride that had shed so much blood in Mindanao.
He said all provisions referencing to a sub-state status has been disposed of to clarify that the BBL was about an autonomous region like any other.
He added the Republic’s flag and national anthem, Lupang Hinirang, shall always be flown and played along with the Bangsamoro heraldic symbols.
Zubiri made the statement after the 2nd Regular Session of the 17th Congress closed early Thursday morning as the Senate went on sine die adjournment after passing its version of the BBL.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III formally announced the adjournment of the session around 2 am, due to the nearly 10-hour long deliberation on SBN 1717 or the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which was approved on third and final reading with 21-0 votes.
“With 21 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, zero abstention, Senate bill is approved on third reading,” declared Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Senators Emmanuel Pacquiao and Leila de Lima, the latter currently detained, were not present during the hearing.
In related developments:
• Bangsamoro Transition Commission chairman Mohagher Iqbal on Thursday expressed hope a better BBL would emerge after both Houses of Congress passed their versions of the measure.
Iqbal, also Moro Islamic Liberation Front implementing panel chairman, admitted the BBL version the Senate had approved was quite far from what the BTC had submitted.
“But we are hoping that [in the end] it will be basically faithful to the Comprehensive Agreement to the Bangsamoro deal signed by the government and MILF. There are areas that are somewhat quite far from [our version],” Iqbal said in an interview on Wednesday night.
• The Palace on Thursday thanked both houses of Congress for the passage of the BBL which was certified by President Rodrigo as urgent.
“We are pleased that both houses passed their respective versions of the BBL. The certification was a signal that the President considers the BBL as absolutely indispensable in the search for peace in Mindanao,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“We are pleased that both houses of Congress agreed to come up with a final version of the bill during the break,” Roque told a Palace briefing.
“We are also very pleased that they are aiming that for the President to sign the final BBL on the day of the Sona [State of the Nation Address] itself,” the Palace spokesperson said.
Zubiri, a sponsor of the bill, identified some of the amendments as the change from Bangsamoro territory to Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction.
“I’m extremely honored and elated to have passed the BBL last night that would lead to a long and just peace between the government and the MILF,” said Zubiri.
After almost 30 hours of interpellations and marathon hearings in five ARMM provinces, Zubiri said he was confident the Senate version was compliant with the Constitution.
“We have weeded out provisions that earlier muddled our intentions to improve a lot of fellow Filipinos in Muslim Mindanao,” he said.
He added: “We survived walking on a tightrope, balancing the search for peace, right to self-determination, governance and democracy and. And, we did it crossing party lines. Even at this early stage, the BBL is a legacy for all the efforts to bring about peace and progress in lands which most experienced poverty, inequity, and the war in the Philippines.”
When they finally put ink to paper, he said: “erstwhile rebels would lay down arms; that is the biggest promise we are moving to achieve with the BBL.”
Under fiscal autonomy, he said the block grant was spelled out to be 5 percent of the net collections of the BIR and Bureau of Customs, down from 6 percent.
He said it was easily the most contentious provision because it appeared that the National Government was subsidizing the Bangsamoro government at the disadvantage of Filipino taxpayers outside of the Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction.
He said Senator Ralph Recto’s proposed formula on block grants included provisions on the creation of internal auditing body to enhance transparency in governance and public accountability.
The fund, he said, shall be a “programmatic fund” – meaning the Bangsamoro Government Parliament should submit to the Budget and Management and Finance departments a program of expenditures according to a development plan.
“It was clarified that the Bangsamoro shall be treated on equal footing by the Department of Budget and Management and Bureau of Local Government Finance-DoF which reviews the expenditures plan of local governments.
It will not be automatically appropriated.
From P10 billion annually for 10 years, the SDF shall be at P5 billion a year for 10 years.
He said from the original BTC proposal of 75 percent-25 percent sharing in favor of the Bangsamoro government, the sharing was placed at 50 percent-50 percent.
This satisfied the call to treat the Bangsamoro at par with other local governments and the basic principle that a country’s natural resources belong to the State.
He also said the Senate voted to hold only one plebiscite and deleted the proposed periodic plebiscites to be held repeatedly every five years for 15 years.
Discussions in the plenary stressed the proposed BBL contained only opt-in provisions and none on opting-out.
If the BBL is defeated, the current law on the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao shall remain over the existing ARMM territorial jurisdiction.
Regarding peace efforts, he said provisions on the Bangsamoro Transition Authority and the Bangsamoro Parliament were refined to make sure extensive representation of Muslim Filipinos, Indigenous peoples and Christians, and peoples of other faiths are implemented truthfully.
A ban on political dynasties retained the original language of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission; this could stem the tide of ride that had shed so much blood in Mindanao.
He said all provisions referencing to a sub-state status has been disposed of to clarify that the BBL was about an autonomous region like any other.
He added the Republic’s flag and national anthem, Lupang Hinirang, shall always be flown and played along with the Bangsamoro heraldic symbols.
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