With only 13 days of regular sessions left before adjourning sine die on June 12, the Senate Local Government Committee will hold two public hearings on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in Jolo, Sulu, and Zamboanga City starting tomorrow.
“I made a promise to the people of Jolo and Zamboanga that they will have a chance to air their views on the BBL and so we set these hearings to fulfill that promise,” Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., committee chairman, said.
Marcos said his committee will also have another public hearing to get the side of the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), then headed by University of the Philippines (UP) Professor Nur Misuari who signed a peace accord with the Ramos administration in 1996.
“So after that, before the end of the month, we would likely complete our hearings and the committee would probably be ready by then to write the version that we will present to the rest of the senators,” Marcos explained.
The Jolo and Zamboanga hearings will be held in the same week the special committee of the House of Representatives gears up to vote on the final version of BBL it would present to the plenary.
Malacañang had expressed its desire that Congress would be able to pass the BBL before adjourning on June 12.
Public hearings on the BBL were temporarily shelved by both Houses of Congress following the January 25, 2015, Mamasapano tragedy where 44 commandos of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) died in a firefight with the fighters of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and private armed groups (PAGs).
Manila Bulletin
