Palace to Trillanes: BBL can't wait until next admin

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang pitched again on Monday for the enactment of the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) during the term of President Benigno Aquino III.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda reacted to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV's statement that the BBL can wait until the next administration.

"We do not see ourselves looking at the BBL being passed by the next administration. This is an important piece of legislation," Lacierda said.

The BBL was the product of the comprehensive peace agreement signed by the national government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last year following years of negotiations.

Serving as the enabling law for the proposed Bangsamoro entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the BBL specifies the power and wealth-sharing arrangements between the national government and the Bangsamoro region.

The fate of the controversial measure now hangs in the balance after 44 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force were killed in the hands of the MILF and its splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, during an anti-terror operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 25.

The House committee on the BBL has indefinitely suspended its proceedings until after the various government probes on the fatal Mamasapano encounter are completed. Believing that it does not favor the country and that it may violate the constitution, lawmakers seek to amend the BBL while the MILF leadership wants it unrevised.

Lacierda said Congress should look into the BBL and and find ways to ensure that it would be "bigger than the Mamasapano incident."

He said the deaths of the 44 police commandos and the efforts of all those who worked for the peace process should not be in vain.

"The situation is very difficult right now. The emotional sentiment is very high. It seems like finding peace is an uphill climb once again. But we should not deter ourselves from pointing out that a just and lasting peace is what we all want," Lacierda said.

President Aquino met last week with House leaders to remind them that the BBL should be passed in a timely manner.

READ: Palace expects House plenary debates on BBL by May 4