SENATOR Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday denied an accusation by President Benigno Aquino III that he and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile connived to kill the Bangsamoro Basic Law, saying the House had to pass the bill before the Senate could vote on it.
“Perhaps somebody [should] explain to the President that the BBL, the [bill] that the senators were deliberating, is a law of local application,” Marcos said.
Under Senate rules, Marcos added, senators must wait for the House to pass a bill of local application before they can vote on it.
Marcos issued the statement in response to an accusation by the President that he connived with Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile to kill the Palace-supported bill.
In an interview over radio dzBB, Marcos, chairman of the Senate committee on local governments, said they could hold hearings on the BBL but could not vote on it until the House had passed it to the Senate.
Campaigning in Iloilo City Wednesday for Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II and vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo, Aquino said two senators blocked the passage of the BBL.
“What was painful, there seemed to be two senators who connived. It took a very long time to come up with the report. Even during the last few session days, the interpellation was not yet over,” Aquino said.
He did not mention names.
Senate President Franklin Drilon added that Marcos was unable to focus on his legislative work as he was busy campaigning to be vice president.
Drilon also took a potshot at Enrile for asking so many questions during committee hearings.
In a major defeat for the President, neither the House nor the Senate passed the BBL.
Marcos said despite the failure to pass the bill, the peace process must continue, and he lauded the chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Mohagher Iqbal, for saying they will continue to pursue peace.
Government and MILF negotiators met recently to reassess how to move forward after Congress failed to pass the BBL, the lynchpin in a peace agreement between the two parties.
“Today could have been a much happier occasion, if only we had the law that would have moved our road map forward in leaps and bounds. But we do not have the law—yet. Despite the extraordinary efforts of our teams and all the other tireless peace advocates and congressional allies who traveled with us in this difficult journey of a thousand miles, we saw the session days in Congress wither away, without a BBL in sight,” said government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel Ferrer in her opening statement.
“We have learned our lessons. The problem is structural and systemic… [T]here is widespread frustration on the ground by our people and members of the MILF. They accused the government of resorting again to delaying tactics and just managing the conflict in Mindanao,” said Iqbal.
The proposed law would have replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a larger territory with greater autonomy.
The bill would have to be refiled in the next Congress, bringing the legislative effort back to square one.
Ferrer said during the meeting that the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was still in effect.
“The CAB remains our most viable road map, the source of the substance of the policies and legislation that we will continue to pursue under the next administration and the 17th Congress. The next administration would be foolhardy to wage war, and [have] everything to gain by upholding this pathway. It will have enough time to see both the CAB and a CAB-compliant law realized,” Ferrer added.
“[T]he MILF and the government shall jointly find ways and means to address this dangerous situation and avoid actions that may increase the frustrations. We must provide them hope that there is a chance for passage of [a] CAB-compliant BBL whoever will be the next President,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal said all Filipinos should work together to overcome the barriers of peace.
“Let us end the war, the suffering, the tragedy, and pains of our peoples, of the soldiers and our heroic fighters, of our mothers and sisters, of our children. Let us try to live quiet and peaceful lives,” he said. With Sandy Araneta
