Pimentel: Bicam meetings on BBL will be 'exhaustive'
Published Jul 3, 2018 04:25 pm
By Ellson Quismorio
Expect "exhaustive deliberations" during the Bicameral Congress Committee meetings on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), a ranking member of the House of Representatives said Tuesday.
"Yes, there will be exhaustive deliberations, that's why it will take almost a week to deliberate on the provisions," Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel said.
Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Pimentel chairs the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability and is a member of the 20-man House panel that will take part in the Bicam meetings. Ten senators will join the proceedings. Earlier, House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said that the Bicam meetings will be held from July 9 to 13 even as both chambers of Congress (House and the Senate) are in recess. Last May 30, congressmen (House members) approved a substitute bill on the proposed BBL on third and final reading via nominal vote result of 227-11-2 (yes-no-abstain). The Senators approved their version of the BBL the following morning, setting up the Bicam meetings wherein the differing provisions of the two versions will be harmonized. "We have the two versions of the BBL--the Senate version and the Congress (House) version. During the Bicam meeting, we will deliberate on each issue and concerns on certain provisions of the law and come up with a unified version that will hopefully be ratified come July 23," Pimentel explained. July 23 is the start of the third regular session of the 17th Congress and also the day that President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) during a joint session of the House and Senate. Reports have it that the House's version of the BBL is vastly different from the Senate's, making the upcoming Bicam all the more important for the peace process. The BBL is the enabling law of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the Philippine government and secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It seeks to establish the Bangsamoro juridical entity, which will replace the ARMM. It is hoped that the proposed law would usher in a period of peace and prosperity down south. The BBL was aggressively pushed by the previous Aquino administration, but its plethora of unconstitutional provisions coupled by the unfortunate January 2015 Mamasapano, Maguindanao siege doomed its passage. So high are the hopes for the BBL that another House member of the Bicam panel, Anak Mindanao Party-List Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan, earlier said that its progress in the legislature could help sway radical groups to lay down their arms in the name of peace. "We're hoping it would give them an idea that their government is sincere enough to really give them peace and development in their areas. We're hoping that they'll have that in mind once BBL is passed into law," said Sangcopan, a vice chairperson of the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Committee. President Duterte had previously certified the bill as urgent, paving the way for its passage in the two chambers before the sine die adjournment of the second regular session.
Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Pimentel chairs the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability and is a member of the 20-man House panel that will take part in the Bicam meetings. Ten senators will join the proceedings. Earlier, House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said that the Bicam meetings will be held from July 9 to 13 even as both chambers of Congress (House and the Senate) are in recess. Last May 30, congressmen (House members) approved a substitute bill on the proposed BBL on third and final reading via nominal vote result of 227-11-2 (yes-no-abstain). The Senators approved their version of the BBL the following morning, setting up the Bicam meetings wherein the differing provisions of the two versions will be harmonized. "We have the two versions of the BBL--the Senate version and the Congress (House) version. During the Bicam meeting, we will deliberate on each issue and concerns on certain provisions of the law and come up with a unified version that will hopefully be ratified come July 23," Pimentel explained. July 23 is the start of the third regular session of the 17th Congress and also the day that President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) during a joint session of the House and Senate. Reports have it that the House's version of the BBL is vastly different from the Senate's, making the upcoming Bicam all the more important for the peace process. The BBL is the enabling law of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the Philippine government and secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It seeks to establish the Bangsamoro juridical entity, which will replace the ARMM. It is hoped that the proposed law would usher in a period of peace and prosperity down south. The BBL was aggressively pushed by the previous Aquino administration, but its plethora of unconstitutional provisions coupled by the unfortunate January 2015 Mamasapano, Maguindanao siege doomed its passage. So high are the hopes for the BBL that another House member of the Bicam panel, Anak Mindanao Party-List Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan, earlier said that its progress in the legislature could help sway radical groups to lay down their arms in the name of peace. "We're hoping it would give them an idea that their government is sincere enough to really give them peace and development in their areas. We're hoping that they'll have that in mind once BBL is passed into law," said Sangcopan, a vice chairperson of the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Committee. President Duterte had previously certified the bill as urgent, paving the way for its passage in the two chambers before the sine die adjournment of the second regular session.