DAVAO CIT Y (May 29) — President Rodrigo R. Duterte has certified as urgent the two versions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) pending in both houses of Congress.
On Monday night, Duterte met the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Council at the Palace.
The President also met leaders of the Senate and the House for said purpose, the meetings were held separately.
The certificate of urgency has been released by the Office of the Executive Secetary Tuesday afternoon.
Presidential Spokerperson Harry Roque said “The query last night was how to certify two bills pending in the House and the Senate because they were not the same but the decision was reached finally to certify both versions of the bill and there was an agreement that after both houses of Congress had passed already their respective versions that the differences would be threshed out immediately,” Roque said.
With the Palace certification, both the Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to pass the BBL before Congress adjourns sine die on June 1.
Roque said certified copy of the bill “is on its way to both Houses of Congress”.
“Once both chambers have reconciled and finalized the version, the President will sign the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Roque said.
The BBL is designed to address the decades-long conflict in Mindanao by creating a political entity to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
“The passage of this measure is a manifestation of the government’s commitment to address the diverse needs of the people in Bangsamoro, and all communities and constituents of Mindanao, towards a just and lasting peace in Mindanao and in the Philippines as a whole,” Duterte stated in the certification submitted to Senate President Vicente Sotto III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.– Ezc/NewsLine.ph with report from PNA
