Mindanao solon disappointed over approval of Duterte-backed BBL bill without amendments

A Mindanao lawmaker on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the committee-level approval of one of the bills seeking to provide for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) with no amendments, saying that the House of Representatives just wasted all its meetings and consultations on the matter.

In a phone interview with reporters, Zamboanga City Representative Celso Lobregat said he could have raised his proposed amendments to House Bill 6457 had it not been approved with no amendments.

"Sayang talaga. Sayang ang oras. Ganun lang pala. We should not have any consultation nor committee hearings if that's what will be resolved," Lobregat said.

"Kung alam lang namin na ganun e 'di hindi na dapat tayo nagsayang ng oras, ng panahon, ng pagod pati ng pera," he added.

Lobregat said it was Maguindanao Representative Bai Sandra Sema who moved to approve the said bill without amendments. The bill, introduced by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, was based on the version of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Two committees, the House Committee on Muslim Affairs and Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity voted to approve Sema's motion. The Committee on Local Government, on the other hand, voted to reject it.

The lack of amendments in House Bill 6457 would "make matters worse" once it is deliberated in the plenary, Lobregat said.

"It will make matters worse because we had how many subcommittee meetings, how many committee meetings and how many consultations and imposible naman na in all those committee hearings na walang nag-raise ng objections to certain provisions especially doon sa police, doon sa military, sa expansion provisions," he said.

"Ang daming objections coming from different sectors and even government agencies. But unfortunately this is what happened," he added.

Nevertheless, Lobregat said he would still raise his proposed amendments in the plenary deliberation of the bill, noting that some of the current provisions in the measure are "unconstitutional" and "problematic."

"Kung 'yun ang ipapasa, then ia-adopt sa Senate, talagang sigurado sa Korte Suprema ito," he said.

One of these "unconstitutional" provisions, Lobregat said, is that which allows several areas that seek to be included in the Bangsamoro region to submit a resolution or petition of 10 percent of its registered voters to be allowed to join the region.

The provision that automatically includes into the Bangsamoro region several municipalities of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is also unconstitutional, he added.

According to Lobregat, these municipalities were included in the ARMM through a 2001 plebiscite.

The three House panels will meet again upon the resumption of session on May 15 to approve the committee report on House Bill 6475. —KG, GMA News