Draft BBL to be filed at House next week —Fariñas

The draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) prepared by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) will be filed next week at the House of Representatives.

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas announced the development Thursday morning following the third Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday night.

"We will file next week the bill for the BBL submitted by the BTC," Fariñas said in a message to reporters.

"The President informed us that he will leave to the wisdom of the Congress the 
final version of the BBL," he added.

The BTC formally turned over their draft BBL to Duterte in a ceremony last July 17.

During the event, the President vowed to establish a Bangsamoro country.

"May I say to you, my brother Moros, that I commit to support – in front of everybody – my covenant with you that I will support and husband this instrument as it goes in the legislator for its consideration," Duterte said.

“And there will be no objections of the provisions of all that is consistent with the Constitution and the aspiration of the Moro people,” he added.

At the House of Representatives, former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo filed her own version of the BBL.

Malacañang is expecting that lawmakers will efficiently consolidate the versions of Arroyo and the BTC. —KG, GMA News