Noy: 2 senators conspired to block BBL

MANILA, Philippines – Two senators conspired to block the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and put the fragile peace in Mindanao in greater peril, President Aquino said in a speech during the Liberal Party’s kickoff rally in Iloilo City Tuesday night.

The President did not name the senators, but he was apparently referring to Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The President also made a pitch for senatorial candidates running under the administration coalition as he warned of important measures not taking off if the right lawmakers don’t get elected.

“Our bosses, that’s the importance of the legislature. So the senators that we should choose must be right and worthy,” Aquino said.

“For example, the talks on peace in Mindanao. One hundred million of our fellowmen are affected because of the failure to pass the BBL. The painful thing about this is that it seems only two senators conspired (to make this happen),” he said.

“The committee report took too long to be released. And even on the last day of session, the conspirator was not yet finished in interpellation,” the President said. “What I told those criticizing the BBL was this: what is your proposal or alternative to the BBL? Nothing was presented to us. Now, where are we? So we are in the same situation.”

Enrile made a long interpellation of the BBL when it was last discussed on the floor before Congress went on recess early this month. Marcos chairs the Senate committee on local government. It was his committee which drafted a substitute bill but Senate President Franklin Drilon said Marcos was unable to focus on his legislative work as he was busy campaigning for vice president.

Drilon, who is seeking re-election under the LP, earlier said the reality was that Enrile “had a thick file of questions” to ask Marcos but then the election campaign had caught up with the latter.

“Senator Marcos became busy and could not attend all the sessions and Senator Enrile – because he was not there during the committee hearings – had so many questions,” the Senate president said.

“And then the political environment, given that we are nearing elections, did not add to an environment conducive for the passage of the law,” he maintained.

“But the fact that the Bangsamoro Basic Law was not passed does not mean the end for the peace process. I would urge whoever is elected president – and I think it makes a lot of sense for him or her – to pursue this peace process and bring it to conclusion,” he said.  

In Roxas City, the only Muslim senatorial candidate of the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid said a BBL “that is in line with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro” would be her first bill if she wins in the elections.

Former interior assistant secretary for Muslim affairs Nariman Ambolodto said she would push for a BBL that is based on the peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. – With Alexis Romero, Jess Diaz