Palace pressured Rufus to push friendly version of BBL, says Marcos

SEN. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday said Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s 2nd District compromised and was pressured to push for a House bill on the creation of a Bangsamoro territory that was acceptable to Malacañang.

Marcos, who came over to speak during the Mindanao Vice Governors’ Conference, said, “I pity Congressman Rodriguez… he succumbed to the pressures of the administration.”
He said the House ad hoc committee version of the proposed Bangsamoro law “is clearly a Palace version.”

Before Mindanao vice governors, Marcos delivered more than an hour-long speech, explaining his proposed Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region or Senate Bill no. 2849. He said his substitute bill would ensure that the measure would not be used in establishing a separate state.

Marcos said Rodriguez’s version was not the House’s but the Palace’s.

“There were two midnight sessions inside the Palace, and we did not know what was going on. Even Congressman Celso Lobregat was not invited during the midnight meeting,” he said.

Lobregat, Zamboanga’s representative, is a staunch critic of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Marcos said he was expecting a rough time ahead in his defense of his version of the Bangsamoro law but he added that he would stand firm to protect the country’s interests and sovereignty.

“I am not against the BBL. I am promoting the interests and aspirations of the Bangsamoro people,” he said.

Marcos said he said his position should not be taken as an insult to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“My contention is, although we trust our partners in peace in the MILF now, we do not know who will be their leaders in the future, and perhaps, they will not have the same assurances for the Philippines about not separating,” he said.

Marcos said 17 senators have so far signed his committee report, and several of them have already expressed their intention to introduce amendments to the proposed measure.