Senate to hold public consultations on BBL in Cotabato City
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By Edwin Fernandez in NDBC News
COTABATO CITY – The Senate will hold its first public consultations on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law at Notre Dame University gymnasium today.
Two committees, Senate committee on local government and committee on peace and reconciliation, chaired by Senators Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sen. Teofisto Guingona Jr, respectively, will convene at 9 a.m.
“We want to hear all ideas, suggestions, objections if any, about BBL to attain an objective that is acceptable to all,” Guingona told Caloy Baustista of DXMS Radyo Bida early Wednesday morning.
“It is open to the public,” Guingona said of the two-day public consultation. One of the two Mindanao senators, Guingona said the senate is eyeing to pass the draft bill into law by first quarter of 2015.
However, Guingona said the bill will surely go through a tiresome process and will be emotional.
“Emotions will run high and there will be more debates, but I am sure all of us lawmakers are for peace,” Guingona said.
He stressed the BBL will go through at least four “filtering” process. By filtering, he said, it would mean that the bill will have to undergo the scrutiny of Senate, scrutiny of the House and for those who will question it will go to the Supreme Court.
The last filtering process will be the plebiscite. “Hahanapin natin ang pagkakapareho, magkaiba tayo bilang tao at magkaiba ang ating hangarin pero may pagkakapareho tayo at yon ang tutumbukin natin,” Guingona said.
When asked what he thinks is the root cause of Mindanao problem, Guingona said “the provisions of land.” “Land ownership is the most contentious issues in the BBL.
We have conflict not because of religion, culture or tradition but due to land dispute. Mula noon hanggang ngayon, lupa ang dahilan ng karamihan ng conflict sa Mindanao,” Guingona added.
The BBL was a result of almost 18 years of government peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) aimed at ending decades old conflict in southern Philippines.
Crafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), the draft BBL, once it becomes a law, will serve as the legal basis for the establishment of new political entity in Mindanao called Bangsamoro.