Hearings on BBL start Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines - A 75-member special committee of the House of Representatives will start public hearings on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) on Wednesday.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, committee chairman, said his panel would hold an organizational meeting tomorrow.

“We will be approving the rules of procedure, our calendar of activities, where we’re going to hold hearings in Mindanao and when. Our meetings will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” he said yesterday.

Rodriguez said the House leadership has given his committee permission to meet or hold hearings during plenary debates on the proposed P2.6-trillion 2015 national budget for the next two weeks.

On Wednesday, his panel would first hear the government and Moro Islamic Liberal Front peace negotiators and the transition commission that drafted the BBL.

Rodriguez pointed out that even during the scheduled recess of Congress later this month up to mid-October, his committee would continue working.

“We all agreed that even during recess, we are going to meet, so that we will be able to really fast-track this. And we are going to visit the core areas of the Bangsamoro, including Christian regional centers like Cagayan de Oro City, Zamboanga City and General Santos so that we can completely listen to all the stakeholders,” he said.

“We are going to Basilan, we are going to Sulu, we are going to North Cotabato, to Maguindanao, to Lanao del Norte, where six municipalities had been likewise listed as possible core territories,” he added.

He said their goal is to recommend approval of the draft BBL by mid-December and to have the plebiscite in the proposed Bangsamoro region by February or March next year.

Malacañang also vowed yesterday to work with Congress to ensure that the BBL is passed on time.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said President Aquino wants the BBL to become a reality because people in Mindanao would “greatly benefit” from it.

“We will continue to work with our fellows in Congress to make sure that happens,” she added.

Asked about some possible contentious provisions of the proposed law, Rodriguez said these would include the proposal to set up a parliamentary form of government in the Bangsamoro region. The granting of power to the region over airspace and territorial waters is another controversial provision.

“We are going to invite experts precisely to speak on these provisions, like former Supreme Court justices. We want to hear all their points of view,” he said. – With Alexis Romero