House leaders ask Duterte anew to certify BBL proposal as urgent

Leaders of the House of Representatives have requested President Rodrigo Duterte anew to certify as urgent the measure that seeks to provide for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

In a letter dated May 23, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas asked the President to have House Bill 6475 certified as urgent.

LOOK: House leadership’s request to President Duterte to certify as urgent the measure providing for the BBL. ???? ML Rodolfo Fariñas @gmanews pic.twitter.com/VUpcWKEELE

— Erwin Colcol (@erwincolcol) May 24, 2018

The bill, which has been approved on the committee level without amendments, was introduced by Alvarez himself, based on the version that the Bangsamoro Transition Commission submitted to Duterte.

It aims to end decades of conflict in Mindanao by creating a political entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The House leaders said they aim to approve the measure before Congress takes a sine die break on June 2.

"Thus, we are hoping for your usual support as we work for the prompt passage of the law," they said in the letter.

Opposition lawmakers, however, urged their colleagues not to fast-track the approval of such important legislation.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, for one, called on the House leadership to allow members to deliberate the BBL proposal in the plenary.

"It will be a problem if the House leadership will fast-track the approval of the BBL because there will be inadequate and insufficient deliberations for a very important issue," he said in a press conference on Tuesday.

"We are urging the House leadership to give opportunity to all those who would like to debate on the measure and not to fast-track the measure at the expense of a serious and deliberate consideration of the measure," he added.

Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano made the same call.

"I ask that we carefully develop a BBL that would result to such without, of course, unreasonably delaying the process. We do not want to compromise the quality of this measure for the sake of beating the deadline," he said. —KBK, GMA News