Sotto backs Zubiri’s timetable on BBL passage

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday expressed support over Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri's timetable as regards the passing of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) at the Senate.

"That would be ideal. Basta kung matapos ang interpellations when we resume on the 15th, within that week sana matapos ang interpellations. The week after could be the period of amendment," Sotto said.

"Doon naman palagay ko doon medyo matatagalan ng konti eh. Sa period of amendments doon magtatagal sa debate," Sotto added.

Zubiri, chairperson of the Senate subcommittee on BBL, has said he is hoping to pass the proposed measure on May 23 to meet the target of President Rodrigo Duterte to sign it into law before Congress adjourns its session on June 2.

The proposed law is now in the period of interpellation at the Senate while it is still pending before the House committees on local government and Muslim affairs and peace, reconciliation, and unity.

Sotto also mentioned that he and Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimente III would meet with Duterte to further discuss the timetable of the BBL passage.

"Si Senate President and I are meeting with the President tungkol doon sa Bangsamoro Transitory Commission or committee... siguradong BBL. Ang imbitasyon sa akin is to discuss the BBL with the BTC," he said.

"Kung content ang paguusapan, Senator Zubiri is enough. Puwede na kami ni Senate President hindi kasali sa usapan. Kami nandito na sa floor, napaguusapan na namin 'yan. Pero malamang timetable ang paguusapan kaya kaming dalawa," Sotto added.

Duterte has vowed that the government is "working hard to meet the deadline" in passing the BBL, which aims to address the conflict in Mindanao by creating a political entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News