Peace process still intact: Malacañang

PRESIDENT Aquino remains determined to push through and finish the peace process in Mindanao despite failure of Congress to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) before it adjourned sine die this week, a Palace official said.

“The determination of the President to finish this peace process remains intact,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Hermino Coloma Jr. said.
Coloma said the President is still hoping that the first
election for the new Bangsamoro government would be synchronized in the 2016 national and local elections.

The original deadline for the passage of the BBL was before the adjournment sine die of the second regular session but the Senate committee on local government failed to finish early its public hearings for the Senate Bill no. 2408.

The Senate committee on local government chaired by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. conducted a total of 15 public hearings, including five in Mindanao, to make sure that all stakeholders are consulted on the proposed law.

Coloma said the government respects the decision of the Senate to spend more time to study and scrutinize the BBL.

“All these processes are part of the democracy,” Coloma said.

Marcos has promised to Senate President Franklin Drilon to submit the committee report after last State of the Nation Address (Sona) of Aquino on July 27.

Drilon is hoping to see the passage of the BBL before the filing of certificates of candidacy in October.

The proposed BBL is a codification of the two agreements – Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

If signed into law, the BBL will create a new Bangsamoro government and replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. –pna