House suspends session without ratifying Bangsamoro Organic Law

The House of Representatives suspended its morning session on Monday without ratifying the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law and pushing through with the reported ouster of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

Following an hour-long break, Pampanga Representative Juan Pablo Bondoc moved for the suspension of the House session until 4 p.m., the time when President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his third State of the Nation Address.

But despite the repeated objection of Camarines Sur Representative Rolando Andaya Jr., Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia approved Bondoc's motion.

At the time when the session was suspended, the House had not yet taken up the expected ratification of the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law.

The Senate ratified the report on Monday morning.

The ratification of both houses of Congress of the BOL is needed in order for Duterte to sign the measure into law, which is expected to happen before he delivers his SONA later in the day.

Apart from that, the House likewise was not able to push through with the reported ouster plot against Alvarez, which has been rumored to happen during the session.

Alvarez, according to reports, will be replaced by former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

'Unfortunate'

Malacañang on Monday found it “unfortunate" that the House of Representatives failed to ratify the harmonized version of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in time for Duterte's SONA.

''We find it unfortunate that the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was not ratified before the adjournment of today's session of the House of Representatives,'' presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

Roque, however, considered the development a ''temporary setback in the administration’s goal of laying the foundation for a more genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao.''

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday said he was "saddened" by the House of Representatives' failure to ratify the bicameral conference committee report on the BOL in time for Duterte's SONA.

Zubiri, however, said that the Senate respects the independence of the House as a separate legislative branch of government. He said he sees the non-ratification of the BOL on Monday as a temporary setback. —KBK/KG, GMA News