Palace: No advice yet on whether PNoy will meet with lawmakers on BBL

Days before the end of Congress' regular sessions, it remains unclear whether President Benigno Aquino III will meet with lawmakers on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

 

Asked if the president has plans to meet with lawmakers, deputy president spokesperson Abigail Valte said: "None that I know of."

 

"What we do is we do this in participating in the hearings especially kung kailangan po 'yan ng resource persons, 'yung sa Senate po ongoing at pinapadala naman po natin 'yung ating mga kasamahan para makasagot po ng tanong 'nung ating mga senador," Valte explained.

 

She, however, said the president is waiting for advice from Senate President Franklin Drilon on whether the meeting will push through.

 

Critics have claimed that Aquino wants Congress to approve the bill so he can include it in his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27.

 

Valte has denied such claims, but said the president will likely certify the proposed BBL as urgent to meet the timetable for its enactment.

 

The passage of the law has been delayed since the botched January 25 Mamasapano incident, which left over 60 people dead, 44 of them elite policemen.

 

The BBL, which will operationalize the peace deal between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), seeks to establish a new Bangsamoro political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

 

It is up for plenary debates and voting at the House but has yet to hurdle the committee level at the Senate.

 

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on local government, has said he is open to meeting with the president on the BBL, which his committee has been working on. — Amanda Fernandez/GMA News