THE Lower House suspended interpellations on the substitute bill to the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) at 9:20 p.m. Wednesday before adjourning sine die, with only eight of 38 representatives who had signed up to interpellate, finished, and the rest awaiting their turn after President Aquino’s last State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 27. Only two representatives – Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate and Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano – were able to interpellate during the 10-hour period spent on the BBL on Wednesday, half of that used up by Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat, who clocked four hours and 47 minutes with Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, defending the Committee’s substitute bill, HB 5811 or the “Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.” It was Lobregat’s fifth day at interpellating and when the presiding officer ruled on the motion to suspend his interpellation at 9:20 pm, Lobregat clarified if it was mere suspension and not termination. By then, Lobregat had clocked a total of 10 hours and 32 minutes of interpellation in five days. Lobregat, who had over a hundred proposed amendments during the Committee hearing, but whose motions were repeatedly defeated by a vote of the majority, found his platform – the plenary – to say his piece. His interpellations covered a wide range of issues – from history to energy, Constitution and devolution, rebellion and normalization, power-sharing and wealth-sharing, the vast oil and mineral deposits in Sulu and the Ligawasan Marsh, what’s in the proposed law and what is not in the proposed law but are in the peace agreements, the controversial opt-in provision – among others. The House leadership on Monday had announced they would not be able to pass the Basic Law before adjourning sine die but would finish the period of interpellations on Wednesday, the last session day that was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. instead of 4 pm. Speaker Feliciano Belmonte told the plenary that “we have sought to ensure a more meaningful autonomy for the Bangsamoro and move closer towards enhancing its institutions and pave the way towards more effective provision of vital services to our people in the region.” The Committee version of the BBL is “being fine-tuned to ensure greater inclusiveness and greater efficiency in practice,” Belmonte said, adding “we want the best law possible because we know that there is no such thing as a good war or a bad peace.” HB 5811, the Committee-approved BBL, however, has been criticized as “less than Armm” that the Bangsamoro seeks to replace. Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate began and ended his interpellation by referring to HB 5811 as “Bigay-Bawi Law.” “BBL is a Bigay-Bawi Law,” Zarate said in his opening remarks. He ended his interpellation by saying, “it is becoming increasingly clear that we are now taking away through amendments by the Committee, additional powers given as agreed upon... as negotiated in the last 17 years.” “This process is a bigay-bawi process. It is not reflective of tunay na autonomy,” Zarate said, adding he hopes the sponsor, Basilan Rep. Vice Chair Jim Hataman-Salliman, one of eight vice chairs of the Committee taking turns to defend their substitute bill, “will support amendments that will not water down further the law.” -carolyn arguillas of mindanews