Duterte expected to sign BBL into law on SONA day, Fariñas says

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign into law the measure providing for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) on the day of his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said.

The development came after the President met with leaders of Congress and other concerned lawmakers and officials on Monday night to discuss the contentious issues of the BBL proposal pending before both houses of Congress.

In a message to reporters, Fariñas said Duterte did not impose anything to Congress as regards the measure.

The President, however, approved their request to certify the said bill as urgent.

"[He] granted our request to certify the BBL bill as urgent in order for the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass their respective BBL bills on second and third readings before we adjourn on Wednesday," Fariñas said.

The bicameral conference committee will then meet during the congressional break to resolve the conflicting provisions between the versions of the two houses with the help of the executive department and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), Fariñas said.

"The bicameral conference committee report shall be submitted for ratification by the House of Representatives and the Senate in their plenary sessions in the morning of Monday, July 23, 2018, with the President signing it into law in time for his State of the Nation Address (SONA) at 4 p.m. of that same day," he added.

Duterte has earlier vowed to establish a Bangsamoro country as he received on July 17 last year the BTC's draft of the proposed law.

The House's version of the bill, filed by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez himself, was based on the report submitted by the BTC.

The bill aims to establish a political entity, provide for a basic structure of government to recognize the justness and legitimacy of the cause of the Bangsamoro people and their desire to chart their own political future through a democratic process securing their identity and allowing self-governance.

Opposition lawmakers, however, have urged their colleagues not to hasten the approval of such important legislation.

"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," Albay Representative Edcel Lagman said.

Meanwhile, AMIN party-list Representative Amihilda Sangcopan is hoping that Congress would pass a BBL version that truly represents the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people, and not a "watered-down" version. — BAP, GMA News