Drilon eyes new deadline for proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law

Unsure whether the Senate could meet its self-imposed deadline for the approval of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, Senate President Franklin Drilon on Saturday stressed the importance of having the measure enacted before October this year.

"I am not very optimistic that the law can be in place by June 11. The committee of Senator Bongbong Marcos will conduct two more hearings on June 2 and June 3. I do not know if Senator Bongbong will submit a committee report on the ninth of June...," he said.

Marcos heads the Senate committee on local government, which deliberates on the final form of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Also, Drilon said that in case the Senate approves the BBL before the sine die adjournment, the measure would still have to be deliberated on in the bicameral conference committee.

Congress would have to contend with a possible new deadline, given the time constraints, he added.

"We have to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do and see how we can have this measure in place maybe before October of this year...If we do not have a law passed by that time, then the ARMM will be governed by the existing charter, which obviously we will have to change," he said.

However, he said that it is too early to tell whether the BBL will pass the Senate.

"We do not know how the senators will – and you know the senators are individual republics – we would not know how they will look at the BBL [draft] that will be submitted by the committee on local government," he said.  — Kathrina Alvarez/LBG, GMA News