A Palace-backed coalition of lobbyists and civil society groups has sued the 292 members of the House of Representatives before the Ombudsman for absenteeism and neglect of duty for failing to pass the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The Bangsamo para sa Bayan at para sa Lahat, led by lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, said less than 10 lawmakers comprised the quorum every time the BBL was being taken up on the floor.
“The lack of quorum is unacceptable because it paralyzes the legislative branch of government,” Arnado said in a radio interview.
“Their public display of neglect of duty is very clear. Even kindergarten students, when they are absent, they are required to present excuse letters to justify their absences. But our congressmen have been absent for more than four months yet there is no accountability,” she added.
The House leadership attributed the lack of quorum to the growing general sentiment of majority of lawmakers in rejecting the passage of the Palace-drafted BBL, which will operationalize the peace agreement signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales said passing the BBL became even more difficult after the Mamasapano massacre where 44 Special Action Force commandos were killed by members of private armed groups and the MILF in Maguindanao on Jan. 25.
Independent Minority Bloc leader and senatorial candidate Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, who both recorded perfect attendance during the sessions, took up the cudgels for the entire House and warned the Palace against pressuring Congress into rushing the passage of the controversial measure.
“The Palace and the lobbyists should already realize by now that the public does not want the BBL unless every controversial provision is scrutinized. The House plenary has no problem passing equally important legislations such as the national budget, the Salary Standardization Law of 2015. The House has the numbers. But when it is the BBL that is on the floor, everybody disappears,” Atienza told The Standard.
The BBL is now the subject of plenary debates and is up for second reading.
Atienza said the lobbyists’ tactic of filing the case before the Ombudsman was uncalled for since the House leadership held a dialog with them.
Atienza said prior to the filing of the case, he was summoned by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to discuss the BBL with the lobbyists, which included Arnado, lawyer Christian Monsod and former Senators Santanina Rasul and Aquilino Pimentel III.
“I had to question the quorum because they wanted to put the BBL to a vote even if there were only 15 of us on the floor. Walang ganyanan,” Atienza said.
“Let us pass the BBL that is not a product of railroading even if this is a pet bill of President Benigno Aquino III,” he added.
Romualdez, for his part, said lawmakers must ensure that the version of the BBL they would pass would be able to withstand scrutiny before the Supreme Court.
“We are also for peace but the Palace should understand that we have to scrutinize the BBL considering that it was from the start filled with infirmities. We want a BBL that is not violative of the Constitution,” said Romualdez, president of the Philippine Constitution Association.
Gonzales said the non-appearance of lawmakers became even more evident when a survey came out showing that majority of Filipinos reject the BBL.
“Their non-appearance is already an expression of their non-support for the bill,” he said in a separate radio interview.
“We cannot blame the congressmen. After the Mamasapano massacre happened, the sentiment against the BBL has intensified that spread not only from among the Mindanao congressmen but also in Luzon and the Visayas,” the majority leader added.
