House ratifies bicam report on nat'l ID system

The House of Representatives on Wednesday night ratified the bicameral conference committee report on a bill seeking to create a national identification (ID) system.

The move came a day after the Senate ratified its own version. The bill will be transmitted to the Palace for President Rodrigo R. Duterte's signature.

The proposed bill seeks to integrate and interconnect some 30 redundant government IDs by coming out with one national ID system, or PhilSys.

The PhilSys will have three key components: the PhilSys Number or PSN, the PhilID and PhilSys Registry.

The PhilID will be a non-transferable card containing on its face the PSN, full name, facial image, date of birth, address and fingerprints of the individual.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is mandated to act as the PhilSys Registry, a repository and custodian of all data including the PSN, registered records, and information of all persons registered in the PhilSys. (PNA)

House ratifies national ID system bill

The House of Representatives ratified on Wednesday night the National Identification System bill which seeks to integrate multiple government IDs in the country.

The lower chamber ratified the version adopted by the bicameral conference committee without objection.

Following its ratification by both chambers of Congress, the measure would then be up for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature. If the President would not neither sign nor veto it, it would lapse into law after 30 days.

The proposed measure seeks to integrate multiple government IDs by establishing a single national identification system to be known as the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys.

The ID includes the individual’s full name, sex, birthdate, birthplace, address and nationality, as well as biometric information, said Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Senate public order committee.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, chair of the House appropriations committee, earlier ensured a P2-billion funding for the program in 2018.

Some critics have expressed fears that the national ID system would pose threats to the country’s security and infringe on people’s right to privacy. /atm

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/995968/house-ratifies-national-id-system-bill#ixzz5GzZRJmlV
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

National ID system bill up for Duterte's signature

Once the bill is signed into law, the national ID system will be managed by the Philippine Statistics Authority

Both houses of Congress ratified the bill seeking the creation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) or the national ID system.

The House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the bill on Wednesday, May 30. Only ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio opposed the measure.

The Senate already ratified the bill the day before.

With both chambers ratifying PhilSys, the bill will now be brought to Malacañang so President Rodrigo Duterte can sign it into law.

Once Duterte signs it, the national ID system will be managed by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The system will collect a person's common reference number and basic information. It will also collect and store a person's biometrics, voter's ID, Philippine passport number, taxpayer's identification number (TIN), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) number, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) number, and driver's license number, among others.

A resident's personal data, however, may only be released under the following conditions:

• upon the consent of the registered person, specific to the purpose prior to the processing
• upon risk of public health and safety when relevant information may be disclosed, provided the risk of significant harm to the public is established and the owner of the information is notified within 72 hours of the fact of such disclosure
• upon order of the court
• when a registered person requests access to his or her registered information and record history, subject to the guidelines and regulations to be issued by the PSA

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno supports the measure, saying the national ID system will help improve the delivery of government services and reduce fraudulent transactions.

National Privacy Commission chief Raymund Liboro promised to ensure that other government agencies will adhere to the Data Privacy Act when handling or processing personal data to be made available through the national ID system.

Nat'l ID, rice tariffs to complement TRAIN mitigation measures

The government is accelerating the rollout of social mitigation measures such as unconditional transfers (UCTs) and fuel vouchers, which need to be complemented by the enactment into laws of a national ID system and the lifting of restrictions on rice imports, to further ease the impact of inflation on the country’s vulnerable sectors, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

In a news release issued Wednesday, Finance Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresa Habitan said changing the way rice is imported - by shifting from setting import quotas to just imposing tariffs on cheaper imports of the grain - would help stabilize the supply of rice and lower its prices in the retail market, which will help the poor the most as rice accounts for 20 percent of their consumption.

A national ID system, meanwhile, will minimize leakages in implementing the UCT program and other social welfare programs; and will help ensure that the cash aid reaches the legitimate beneficiaries, Habitan said.

These twin measures, she said, will help cancel out the minimal impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law on inflation and speed up the rollout of the social mitigation measures provided under this law.

Based on estimates by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), rice tariffication alone will immediately lower the inflation rate by 0.4 percentage points, “which already offsets TRAIN’s impact on prices,” Habitan said.

Up to 30 percent of the incremental revenues collected under TRAIN, which is the first package of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), has been earmarked for social protection programs to help vulnerable sectors cope with the minimal inflationary impact of this tax reform law.

“The impending passage of the national ID system law will complement these programs given the ambitious target of delivering social welfare benefits to 10 million poorest family beneficiaries,” Habitan said ahead of the resumption of the House of Representatives’ ways and means committee hearing on the second tax reform package of the CTRP, which covers corporate taxation and the modernization of investment incentives.
Habitan and Director Juvy Danofrata represented the DOF at the hearing.

According to Habitan, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has so far released some PHP4.3 billion to the Land Bank of the Philippines for some 1.8 million Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries with existing LandBank cash cards. Another 2.6 million household beneficiaries are in the process of getting their cash subsidies in May and June. For 2018, some PHP24 billion will be released to cover the poorest 10 million households.

Moreover, the Department of Energy (DOE) and major petroleum companies, such as Pilipinas Shell, Phoenix Petroleum and Petron agreed last March to provide fuel discounts for public utility vehicles (PUV) drivers, while the Department of Transportation (DOTR) is preparing the fuel vouchers for duly-franchised PUVs, Habitan said.

On the part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), it has put in place the e-Presyo, an Online Price Monitoring System, where people can check the prevailing prices of basic necessities and prime commodities that are being monitored by the department. “It serves as a price guide for consumers in doing their grocery shopping, which in turn ensures ‘value for money’,” Habitan said.

She reiterated that TRAIN had a minimal upward effect on April’s 4.5 percent inflation rate, which rose mainly due to rising crude oil prices in the world market and adjustments in the peso-dollar exchange rate. TRAIN’s contribution to the April inflation rate was confirmed by the BSP, DTI and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to be only 0.4 percentage points, Habitan said.

She said that 3 percent of April’s inflation rate can easily be attributed to higher economic growth and stronger domestic demand, given that people now have more money to spend as a result of the reduced personal income tax rates under TRAIN.

Of the balance of 1.5 percent, Habitan said 0.2 percentage points was the result of the increase in the excise tax collections on cigarettes.

House approves national ID bill

The House of Representatives on Wednesday ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the bill seeking to establish a national identification (ID) system.

The ratification came a day after the Senate also ratified the bicameral report.

The reconciled bill will now be transmitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for signature.

Lawmakers agreed to include these sets of information on the ID card:

- the bearer's unique Philippine Identification System or PhilSys number;
- full name;
- sex;
- blood type;
- date of birth;
- place of birth;
- marital status;
- address;
- a front-facing photo.

The bicameral conference committee report was approved by both houses on May 22.

This is the farthest that the national ID system has come along in the legislative mill in its history.

More details to follow.

House approves proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, a measure which seeks to help end decades of fighting in the south and certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.

A bicameral conference will need to reconcile the House and Senate's versions of the bill before it can be signed into law by the President.

The BBL will install a Bangsamoro political entity in place of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It is envisioned to grant wider self-rule to predominantly Muslim provinces and cities.

A total of 226 lawmakers at the House of Representatives voted for the bill while 11 voted against it. Two lawmakers meanwhile abstained.

The law is one of the requirements under a peace agreement that Manila signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2014 under then-president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Duterte had banked on the bill's passage to heal the "historical injustices" suffered by the Moros.

It failed to pass under Aquino after 44 police commandos died in a botched anti-terrorism raid in the remote town of Mamasapano in January 2015. Troops engaged rebels forces, including the MILF, in the hunt for Malaysian bomb-maker Marwan, who was killed in the operation.

House OKs Bangsamoro Basic Law

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure creating a new autonomous region for the Moro peoples, a historic achievement meant to bring decades-long conflict in the southern Philippines to a close.

The House approval of the law, which will create a replacement for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with more powers while remaining part of the Philippines, followed President Rodrigo Duterte’s move Tuesday to certify the bills at the House and the Senate urgent.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, signed a peace deal with the administration of President Benigno Aquino III in 2014 to end decades of rebellion in the country’s restive south which has killed more than a hundred thousand people and displaced millions.

The House, voting 226-11-2, approved the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law on third and final reading.

The passage of the measure, officially known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law, was derailed after a raid on a remote town in Maguindanao  by police special forces led to the death of more than 60 Filipinos, including 44 police commandos.

The death of the policemen plunged the Aquino administration into its worst political crisis and put to question the sincerity of the MILF rebels, some of whom participated in the fighting that led to the commandos' deaths. Panels that investigated the clash found that the operation had been hampered by poor planning and a failure to coordinate with the military and with the MILF, with which the government has a ceasefire agreement.

The House’s version still needs to be reconciled with the draft of the bill coming from the Senate.

Once the two chambers agree on the final version, it will be sent to Duterte, who has strongly supported its measure, for his signature.

On different occasions, Duterte stressed the importance of the bill in attaining peace on the resource-rich island of 22 million.

He warned lawmakers that failure to pass the measure into law would fan extremism in Mindanao, which is already reeling from a five-month siege of Marawi City in Lanao del Sur by Islamic State-linked terrorists.

The measure will give Moros more political and economic power, but it still faces stiff challenges and questions over its constitutionality.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/05/30/1819776/house-oks-bangsamoro-basic-law

After much hesitation, Duterte certifies BBL as urgent

After contradicting statements, President Rodrigo finally certified the landmark Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) as urgent on Tuesday afternoon.

Before this, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said that the President may no longer certify House Bill 6475 and Senate Bill 1717 as urgent due to the stark differences between the versions of the Senate and House of Representatives.

But hours after, Roque said: “After much deliberation, the President has decided to make the House and Senate versions of the BBL as urgent and the copy of which is on its way to both houses of Congress.”

The certification means Congress does not need to wait three days before voting on the measure for final reading.

The Palace official said Duterte would sign the legislation into law once both chambers of Congress have reconciled and finalized the version at the bicameral conference committee during the break.

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said the signing would happen on July 23 in time for Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Fariñas said the lower house would consider BBL on second and third readings on Wednesday, May 30, the last session day before Congress adjourns sine die on June 2.

The Senate is expected to do the same.

Earlier, Duterte urged Congress to pass BBL by May 30 this year, saying the government is “racing against time” to enact the measure that could help keep peace in Mindanao amid threats of the spread of radical Islamic movement.

Amendments

In an interview after an all-member caucus on Monday, Fariñas refused to discuss the specific amendments on House Bill (HB) 6475, the Chamber’s version of BBL, but he said the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) “agreed to several of the amendments proposed.”

“We agreed that—in fairness to the BTC, they agreed naman to several of the amendments proposed. I’m working kasi on the draft presented by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission. May mga amendments, karamihan naman na-accept,” he said.

But he mentioned that the BTC agreed that the Autonomous Region of Bangsamoro (ARB) would remain concurrent with the national government, and the Bangsamoro police would still be under the Philippine National Police.

Fariñas said both camps have yet to agree on the opt-in and fiscal autonomy provisions of the BBL.

In another interview on Tuesday, a day after Congress leaders met with Duterte to discuss BBL, Fariñas said Duterte was apprehensive of many provisions under the BBL.

The House leader only mentioned in passing the provisions on the Bangsamoro police and the establishment of independent constitutional commissions.

“He (Duterte) was not willing na oh may sariling pulis and everything so we told them na payag naman yung BTC na yung kanilang police regional office sa kanilang Bangsamoro will still be like a regional office,” he said.

Fariñas also dismissed concerns that the BBL would be unconstituional because it seeks to abolish the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is stated in the 1987 Constitution.

“Iaabolish na ng BBL yung ARMM. Another option would be to wait for the con-ass (constituent assembly) (to revise the Constitution) but dito na kami sa BBL,” he said.

Zubiri: Senate is on track with BBL passage

The Senate is on track with the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Wednesday, vowing to approve the long-overdue measure within the day.

Zubiri, chair of the Senate subcommittee on the BBL, said senators are racing against time to pass the BBL, which was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday.

“We are on track with the BBL. These past two days and nights disproved the disbelievers that the Senate can hack it. At this time, the landmark measure is being forged by Senators across party lines,” Zubiri said in a statement.

“The Committee Report which was drawn mainly from the work of the BTC (Bangsamoro Transition Commission)  is being rewritten by Senators who hold their legal torches aloft on their own,” he added.

Zubiri said senators would tackle fiscal autonomy and find out ways to pump up the future Bangsamoro government’s ability to “rebuild communities ravaged by war and neglect.”

“We expect proposals to increase provisions that will ensure transparency and public accountability. Sen. Recto promised questions and proposals in all of the 18 chapters,” he said.

Zubiri said during the deliberations on Tuesday night, senators tackled the Bangsamoro police, which would remain part of the Philippine National Police with recruitment and promotions following what is nationally implemented.

“Military, national and Bangsamoro defense were also made more explicit,” Zubiri said.

Bangsamoro territory was also amended to a territorial jurisdiction, the senator said, adding all provisions referencing Bangsamoro to a sub-state status “has been disposed of to clarify that the BBL is about an autonomous region like any other.”

“If last night is indicative of how things will be today, then I think the BBL will be a better document coming out of the Plenary than when it first landed in the Senate,” Zubiri said.   /muf

Zubiri: Senate on track with BBL, will pass it Wednesday

Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Wednesday the Senate is on track with the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, assuring the public that the measure will be approved within the day.

The Senate suspended its session past midnight Wednesday as it tackled the amendments to the proposed measure.

“These past two days and nights disproved the disbelievers that the Senate can hack it. At this time, the landmark measure is being forged by senators across party lines,”  Zubiri said in a message to reporters.

“The committee report which was drawn mainly from the work of the BTC (Bangsamoro Transition Commission)  is being rewritten by senators who hold their legal torches aloft on their own,” he added.

He said Minority Leader Franklin Drilon ,who propounded difficult questions during the period of interpellation and the ongoing period of amendments, headed the Justice Department for many years.

“While it may appear that he was unfeeling in peeling away provisions that the BTC laboriously put together, Senator Frank Drilon was in fact cutting through the verbiage to craft not just better language, but even enhanced it,” said Zubiri.

The majority leader said they will tackle later fiscal autonomy, which is not just about the pesos-and-cents issue, but about pumping up the future Bangsamoro government's ability to rebuild communities ravaged by war and neglect.

“We expect proposals to increase provisions that will ensure transparency and public accountability. Senator (Ralph) Recto promised questions and proposals in all of the 18 chapters. If last night is indicative of how things will be today, then I think the BBL will be a better document coming out of the plenary than when it first landed in the Senate,” he said.

Zubiri said among the amendments they have tackled were that Bangsamoro territory was changed to Bangsamoro territorial jurisdiction. He said there will be further discussion.

He said all provisions referencing to a sub-state status has been disposed of to clarify that the BBL is about an autonomous region like any other. He added the Republic's flag and Lupang Hinirang shall always be flown and played along with the Bangsamoro heraldic symbols.

He said Senators Panfilo Lacson and Gregorio Honasan polished the chapters on the Bangsamoro police to state that it is part of the Philippine National Police with recruitment and promotions following what is nationally implemented.

He said military, national, and Bangsamoro defense were also made more explicit.

Zubiri said the provisions on the Judiciary and system of courts took cognizance and clarified the extent of applicability of the Shariah justice system on Muslim and non-Muslims.

He said land titling, management of protected areas, and ancestral domains issues were also enriched and made more accurate with correlation to existing land, environment, and fisheries resources laws.

Zubiri said the anti-political dynasty provisions were also discussed and even got support for the BTC language.

“We expect another long day. It's all for the better version. Coming from all failed attempts of past administrations to build lasting peace in Mindanao, I am very hopeful we can have a BBL that satisfies the concerns of Muslim Mindanao and most of all our Constitution,” said Zubiri.

President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent Tuesday the proposed BBL. The certification will allow Congress to do away with the three-day rule and immediately pass the bill on third and final reading after its approval on second reading.

The 2nd regular session of Congress will adjourn its session Wednesday and will return on July 23 when the 3rd regular session starts. — RSJ, GMA News

Bangsamoro can't replace ARMM without charter change: Lagman

A new Bangsamoro entity cannot replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao unless the 1987 Constitution is revised, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday.

The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is pending in Congress, is an "affront to the Constitution" that specifically provided for the creation of the ARMM, making it a "constitutional entity," said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

"There is nothing more to do except to implement constitutional provisions effectively," he told ANC's Headstart.

The BBL will not merely rename the ARMM and will instead create a "more ascendant and powerful" body, he said.

Under a BBL draft in Congress, the Bangsamoro region will have its own Commission on Elections, which should not happen because a poll body is supposed to be "constitutional," he said.

Anak Mindanao Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan previously pleaded to her colleagues at the House of Representatives to pass the measure and then let the Supreme Court to decide on its constitutionality.

President Rodrigo Duterte has certified the proposed BBL as urgent, allowing lawmakers to bypass the 3-day period between the second and third readings before the measure is passed.

Duterte to sign BBL on 3rd SONA

President Rodrigo R. Duterte is expected to sign the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) on July 23 in time for his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said.

Fariñas told House reporters Monday night about the Chief Executive’s plan, following a meeting between congressional leaders and the President to discuss the contentious provisions of the proposed BBL.

“The bicam (bicameral) conference committee report shall be submitted for ratification by the HOR (House of Representatives) and the Senate in their plenary sessions in the morning of Monday, July 23, 2018, with the President signing it into law in time for his State of the Nation Address at 4 p.m. of that same day,” Fariñas said.

Fariñas also revealed that President Duterte has already granted their request to certify the BBL as urgent to expedite its passage before Congress adjourns sine die (with no appointed date of resumption).

“The President did not impose anything on Congress, but granted our request to certify the BBL bill as urgent in order for the HOR and the Senate to pass their respective bills on 2nd and 3rd readings before we adjourn on Wednesday,” he said.

The House leader said Congress would be holding the bicam meetings, together with the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the executive department, during the congressional break to resolve conflicting provisions in both versions.

Crunch time for the BBL

The passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law may be the single most consequential legislative objective of the Duterte administration, but it has unfortunately been overtaken by other priorities or overshadowed by other sideshows: impeachment threats and actual impeachment complaints, the ill-advised attempt to postpone the barangay elections yet again, the continuing campaign to change the system of government from unitary to federal.

Now the 17th Congress, controlled in both chambers by supermajorities allied (and aligned) with the Duterte administration, is staring at the bottom of the legislative barrel. It has less than a week left before it adjourns until the State of the Nation Address in July.

How important is the proposed BBL?

Enough for President Duterte to say, wearily, last April: “Nangangako ako na before May, lulusot ’yan … before the end of May, lulusot na ’yan. ’Pag hindi, baka mag-resign ako pagka-presidente. Inyo na lang ’yan, hindi ko talaga kaya.” (I promise that before May, that will pass … before the end of May, that will pass. If not, I might resign as President. You can have it, I really can’t do it).

The President has been known to wax emotional in public before, and indeed to claim that he was too old or too tired to continue in the presidency.

Passage of the BBL ranks among the few issues that have caused him to confess just giving everything up: “It’s useless. If you give me this kind of administration until the end of my term, frankly, I would rather resign. Napapagod na ako (I’m getting tired) to solve the problem.”

Going into the last three days of the second session of the 17th Congress, “this kind of administration” faces serious obstacles in passing the BBL.

As presidential spokesperson Harry Roque admitted on Tuesday morning: “There are kinks that are being ironed out but their promise is to pass the BBL. We would like the BBL enacted before Congress goes on recess on June 2 … The promise is they would do everything humanly possible to pass the BBL. Certifying it as urgent may not happen because of the conflicting versions of the Senate and House.”

This was an unusual position to take, because one of the uses of a presidential certification of urgency is precisely to force the Senate and the House to reconcile conflicting versions of a legislative measure.

And one of its effects is that the mandatory three-day waiting period between second and third readings is considered waived.

Perhaps Roque did not understand what the true situation was?

The Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Secretary Jesus Dureza, insisted that the President had committed to a speedy passage in a late-Monday meeting with congressional leaders.

“The meeting adjourned with a general consensus that the two chambers conclude their work at the earliest possible time and if there are varying versions, that the mandated bicameral committees of both chambers meet to come up with a joint reconciled and accepted version,” Dureza said.

“The President said he would certify the bill as urgent,” he added.

Finally, at around mid-afternoon on Tuesday, the head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, Secretary Adelino Sitoy, told reporters that the BBL certification had been transmitted to Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

The lack of clarity that persisted until mid-afternoon is frustrating, but at least the President has again put the full force of his office behind the BBL.

The certification of urgency is needed to push the passage of the law. Necessary, but not sufficient.

As important as the substance of the proposed law is, and even though the passage of the law has serious consequences for the peace process in Mindanao, the chambers of Congress have run into the hard wall that is the legislative calendar.

Can they pass the law before the President delivers his third Sona?

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas has a clever plan. He thinks that the bicameral conference committee can work on the reconciled version of the bill between now and the fourth Monday of July, when the Constitution requires Congress to begin a new session.

The conference version can then be ratified by the two chambers, meeting separately in the morning, and then passed and signed into law before the President addresses the nation in the afternoon.

It’s a long shot, but it’s crunch time, and Congress needs to take it.



Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/113558/crunch-time-bbl#ixzz5GxuEhOsu
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Duterte’s ‘urgent’ edict on self-rule for Muslims

• The decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao that caused more than 120,000 deaths
• The commission has also agreed that control of the defense, police and coast guard will be retained by the national government

MANILA: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has given an “urgent” certification to the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that will give wider autonomy to the country’s Muslim minority.

The president’s decision on Tuesday came one day after he held separate meetings with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), led by its chairman, Murad Ibrahim, and leaders of Congress.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday said he had spoken to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, who told him that Malacanang would send them the certification that the BBL is an urgent measure.

The office of the presidential liaison office later announced it had sent the BBL certification to Sotto.

Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process, said that “after much deliberation, the president has decided to make the House and Senate versions of the BBL as urgent.”

Dureza said earlier that during their meeting with Duterte on Monday, leaders from the Senate and House of Representatives vowed to pass the proposed BBL “at the earliest possible time.”

“It was a good meeting with all leaders of the House and the Senate, including their members who expressed strongly on their views on the bill,” Dureza said.

He said that Duterte first met with the MILF leadership before organizing a separate meeting with government representatives.

“The president initially expressed his own personal views and initial assessments which resonated well to all,” Dureza said.

The meeting agreed that the two chambers would complete their work as soon as possible.

Following the commitment of leaders of both Houses to pass the BBL and iron out any disagreements in a bicameral conference, Duterte agreed to certify the bill as urgent.

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas, who took part in the meeting with the president, said Duterte did not impose anything on Congress, but granted their request to certify the BBL bill to allow both houses of Congress to pass their respective versions of the measure before they adjourn on Wednesday.

“We will then have a bicameral conference committee during the break, which will resolve conflicting provisions of our bills in collaboration with the Executive Department and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission,” said Farinas. The bicam conference committee report will be submitted for ratification by the both chambers of Congress on July 23.

Once both chambers have finalized the version, Duterte is expected to sign the BBL in time for his “state of the nation” address on the same day.

Farinas on Monday said the Bangsamoro Transition Commission had agreed to most of the proposed amendments to the draft BBL, including naming the new entity that will be created by the law as the Autonomous Region of Bangsamoro (ARB).

The commission has also agreed that control of the defense, police and coast guard will be retained by the national government. “There will be a police region in the Bangsamoro, but it will still be under the PNP (Philippine National Police).”

Agreement has yet to be reached on two major proposed amendments — the opt-in clause and fiscal autonomy for the Bangsamoro. Once the BBL is passed and approved by the president, a plebiscite will be held within 150 days. The MILF chair told Arab News they are “optimistic that once the Bangsamoro (bill) will be in place, it will be supported by the majority of the people in the area.

“Then we can be assured that security issues will be improved and the economic activities of the people will be also increased as there will be peace in the area. So that is expected in the future,” Murad said.

The BBL was the result of a peace agreement between the administration of then President Benigno Aquino III and the MILF to pave the way for the creation of a Bangsamoro region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

However, passage of the bill stalled in 2015 following a clash between Philippine National Police commandos and MILF fighters in Maguindanao province that left 44 troopers and 18 MILF fighters dead.

When Duterte assumed presidency in 2016, he urged Congress to pass the bill, which is expected to address the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao that caused more than 120,000 deaths.