MANILA – The Senate and the House of Representatives have approved on third and final reading their respective versions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
With 21 affirmative votes and no negative votes, the Senate on Thursday morning passed Senate Bill 1717, or the “Act Providing for the Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.”
After the voting Senate President Vicente Sotto III appointed Senate Majority Leader and bill sponsor Juan Miguel Zubiri to head the Senate panel at the Bicameral Conference Committee.
Other members appointed to the panel were Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Francis Escudero.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday evening approved on third and final reading its own version of the BBL, with 227 affirmative votes, 11 negative votes and two abstentions.
Once enacted, the BBL would serve as the enabling law of the 2014 peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro aims to grant greater autonomy to the Bangsamoro region.
The proposed BBL will establish a new autonomous political entity known as the Autonomous Region of the Bangsamoro and will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or ARMM.
Congress’ approval of the BBL came after President Rodrigo Duterte certified the measure as urgent.
The President’s certification made it possible to do away with the three-day period between the second and third readings before a measure gets passed.
After both chambers approved their BBL versions, the bill would go through Bicameral Conference Committee meetings to reconcile conflicting provisions.
The final version of the measure will then be ratified in plenary by both chambers before it is sent to the Office of the President for signing./PN
