MEMBERS of the Visayan bloc at the House of Representatives led by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez on Friday batted for the immediate passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
In a statement, Benitez’s group said “the BBL will pave the way for long-lasting peace and socio-economic development in the proposed Bangsamoro region by allowing the establishment of a regional government that is anchored on the Bangsamoro identity.”
“It is high time that we give our fellow Filipinos in the said region an opportunity for self-governance and to fully recognize their needs and aspirations,” added the joint statement.
Benitez, the bloc’s leader, said ensuring peace and order in the region was a concrete step towards sustainable development in the Philippines.
“We most respectfully enjoin our colleagues in the House of Representatives to expedite and support the immediate passage of this [BBL] measure,” the bloc said.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, one of the principal authors of the BBL, earlier said the House will deliberate on the proposed BBL when Congress resumes its session in May.
Rep. Winter Palma II of Zamboanga Sibugay, chairperson of the subcommittee on the draft BBL, earlier said the joint committees on local government, Muslim affairs and the special committees on peace, reconciliation, had been finalizing the substitute bill on the BBL.
Palma said the committees had so far conducted 18 committee meetings on the bill; and that public hearings were also held in various areas like Cotabato City, North Cotabato, Davao City, Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Zamboanga City, Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte and Marawi City, among others.
The BBL was supposed to be the legal framework of the peace deal signed during the past administration and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The proposal failed to get the approval of Congress amid concerns of unconstitutional provisions and the furor over the Mamasapano clash that killed 44 members of the elite PNP-Special Action Force.