Palace on passage of BBL: Now or never

By Dellon Porcalla

Malacanang believes the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will not be approved in the next administration.

          Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda made this clear yesterday as he rejected calls for the crafting of an alternative to the BBL that can be left for the next administration to tackle.
          " We dont see ourseleves looking at the BBL being passed by the next administration. Its either BBl or no BBL." Lacierda declared.
          President Aquino wants Congress to pass the controversial measure before his July 27 state of the NAtion Address, the last of his term.
         The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with the government, also wants the BBL approved as soon as possible- and without changes.
          "Its not a binary position. Its either BBL or no BBl. You have the BBl in Congress. Congressmen, senators may have a different view. Lets look, lets discuss, lets deliberate, Lacierda said.
          He said the president has been clear in his position amid setbacks caused by the Mamasapano incident.
          "So we asked Congress; look into the law itself. Find ways to make sur ethat what we have crafted would be bigger than the Mamasapano and we certainly grieve for the loss of 44 commandos," Lacierda stressed.
          "But we have to look into the fruit..... We did not labor in vain here. The peaceprocess, the peace panel did not labor in vain; the SAF commandos did not die in vain as well. Lets give honor by making sure that peace will continue in Mindanao," he added.
     " It seems like finding peace is an uphill climb once again. We should not deter ourselves from pointing out that a just and lasting peace is what we all want - whether its a Bangsamoro, its he government of the Philippines, its the entire Filipino, " the spokesman explained.

          “The executive branch under the leadership of Aquino, Lacierda said, “will be there to discuss and give their points and to shed light on the perspective of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.”

                We are there to present to Congress, senators or congressmen, the perspective of how this BBl was crafted. If they have issues on wealth sharing, if they have issues on power sharing, let’s not  just go on the general statements,” he said.

                “Let’s focus on the details. We can provide you the details. The executive branch is prepared to present to you all the details of the provision of the law, whether on the constitutional issue or whether on the certain provisions. Were prepared to do that,” he pointed out.

Mar pitches for BBL

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II met Liberal party congressmen over lunch yesterday to make his own pitch for the BBL.

                Marikina City Rep. Romeo Quimbo, who was present at the meeting, quoted Roxas as saying that non-passage of the BBL is “not acceptable.” Roxas is LP president-on-leave.

                “(Roxas) said 150,000 lives have been lost in Mindanao, and we could go back to that situation if we don’t have the BBL,” Quimbo said.

                He said Roxas also justified the proposed P75-billion annual block grant for the Bangsamoro, saying the amount would be needed to jumpstart the region’s economy.

                The size of the allocation has raised concern that the MILF would corner the amount and use it to enrich its officials or buy arms to revive its secessionist agenda.

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