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MANILA, Philippines – Senate president Franklin Drilon on Sunday vowed to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law before the end of 2014 so that it could be submitted to the people for ratification through a plebiscite next year paving the way for the creation of a Bangsamoro political entity before the presidential polls in May 2016.
“Sisikapin namin na tapusin bago matapos ang taon dahil this is subject for ratification next year and to establish the transition commission bago magkaroon ng halalan sa May 2016, that is when the Bangsamoro political entity will be in place,” Drilon said in an interview over radio dzBB.
Drilon said the Senate Committees on Local Governments, chaired by Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., would conduct public hearing on the draft basic law to be submitted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission to the Office of the President, which it would then submit to Congress as a priority administration measure.
“Unang-una, ang pagkakaalam ko, ang Transition committee ng Bangsamoro ay magsusumite ng draft sa Office of the President for review, then it will be submitted to Congress. So in my estimate, on the first week of May the draft bill will be in Congress and it will be referred to the committee on local government,” Drilon said.
The Senate president expects to see the copy of the draft before the end of April this year. “Siguro bago matapos ang buwan ng Abril, that is the time when we will see how it will look like,” Drilon said.
Also, Drilon said the Senate panel would immediately conduct public hearings once the draft is referred by the plenary, consulting all stakeholders and making sure that the proposed legislation would be within the parameters of the Constitution.
“Our guidelines here in any basic law must be consistent with the Constitution. Hindi po puwede na nangangailangan ng pagbabago ng Saligang Batas dahil iyan ay maliwanag na parameters ni PNoy (President Benigno Aquino III) na...
any basic law must be within the parameters of the Constitution,” Drilon said.
The Senate president urged all stakeholders to support the proposed measure on the creation of the Bangsamoro following 17 long years of peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the biggest Muslim rebel group in the country.
“(S)ana ay pagbigyan ng ating kasamahan, ito ay isang kasunduan that will never come again. It is extremely difficult to get this agreement. Ang aking pakisusap sa iba’t ibang sektor, pagbigyan po natin ng pagkakataon ang kapayapaan, let’s give peace a chance,” Drilon said.
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