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BY AYIN DREAM D. APLASCA
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Wednesday, November 29, 2017
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IT’S IN THE news again. The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is up for a special session in Congress. However, its approval before the end of 2017 is likely impossible.
Why? The BBL contains 289 sections that hearings alone can take so much time.
It is possible for Congress to conduct committee hearings on the BBL even without the President calling for a special session. But it is not possible to pass it on third reading considering the complexity and contentiousness of the issues involved in its provisions.
The BBL seeks to establish a new autonomous political entity known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. This will replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). This will complete the peace agreement signed between the Government of the Philippines and the Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The BBL includes provisions on the Bangsamoro identity, territory, political autonomy and government, inter-governmental relations, justice system, public order and safety, economy and patrimony, natural resources, details of the plebiscite that would lead to the ratification of the BBL, and details of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority that would be set up in the meantime.
The BBL has already submitted to legislative process in the 16th Congress and replaced by various bills. The draft was submitted by former President Benigno Aquino III last 2014 and was revised by the ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives last 2015 and go through interpellation in the House plenary.
Almost three months later, the Senate revised and deliberated the BBL. Unfortunately, due to the lengthy and complexity of the bill, the Senate temporarily postponed the discussions. It is now with the 17th Congress and reviewed by the President.
Also, some of the reasons for the delay of the passage of the BBL are the issues concerning indigenous people, Christian minority in the region, and LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender) rights. Why of concern?
First, indigenous groups are vulnerable to exploitation because they do not adhere to Catholicism or Islam.
Second, a huge minority of Christian groups are living in Mindanao; thus, most of them rejected their inclusion into the Bangsamoro region.
Lastly, Sharia law is allowed in the Bangsamoro region. Under the law, it is illegal to have homosexual intercourse and violators are subject to penalties. Therefore, some people asked to outlaw it in the region.
It sounds complicated but once the BBL is passed into law it will gather support, unity, peace, and end tribal issues.
Of course, at the end of the day we will realize that once the BBL is passed it will set a precedence for federalism as pushed by the current administration.
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(Atty. Ayin Dream D. Aplasca practices her profession in Iloilo City. She may be reached thru ayindream.aplasca@gmail.com/PN)
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