SEN. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) crafted in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), “in its present form and substance will not bring us any closer to peace” but will “lead us to perdition.”
“I have prepared a substitute measure that would be good for all,” Marcos, Senate local government committee chairman, said.
Let’s hope and pray the Senate will lead us not into perdition.
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Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the House of Representatives was on track to meet its June 11 target of passing the bill creating a new BBL in Mindanao in spite of lengthy floor deliberations.
Many members of the 289-strong House believe in the “matuwid na daan” (straight path).
But they should make it sure their crafted BBL wouldn’t be the straight path to our perdition.
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Sen. Marcos said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process “totally ignored” some major sectors in their peace negotiations, including the Moro National Liberation Front, the Sultanate of Sulu, the lumad, indigenous people, Christians and local government units.
On Wednesday, the governors of South Cotabato, Palawan, Zamboanga del Sur and Davao del Sur, which are currently outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), told a Senate hearing they did not want to join the proposed Bangsamoro substate that would replace the ARMM.
For lack of consultation, the BBL in its present form and substance, could be lost.
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Sen. Marcos said his substitute bill would include the findings of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s committee on constitutional amendments that certain provisions in the draft BBL were unconstitutional and the removal of the controversial “opt-in” provision that would expand the proposed Bangsamoro territory.
He said the committee report and the substitute bill will be completed during the recess period.
Congress adjourns its session on June 11 and returns in July.
What about the July 11 deadline? There’s no need to hurry into perdition.