Duterte to sign Bangsamoro law before SONA on Monday, says Palace
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) will be historic as the Chief Executive is expected to sign the proposed Bangsamoro law before delivering his speech on Monday, Malacañang said on Thursday.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. made the statement after the 28-member bicameral conference committee approved on Wednesday night the reconciled version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which was renamed the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) or the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Speaking to reporters, Roque thanked those who helped craft the agreement, including the members of Congress and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), after six days of past-midnight debates and several debacles.
“Nagpapasalamat po tayo sa ating mga mambabatas at sa mga miyembro ng Bangsamro Transition Council dahil natapos na po ang bicameral conferrence ng BBL. At dahil natapos po sila ng kanilang bicameral conference, meron na pong malalagdaan na BBL ang Presidente bago po ang kanyang SONA sa darating na Lunes, ,” Roque said during the press briefing.
(We thank the lawmakers and the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Council because they finished the bicameral conference of the BBL. And because they finished it, the President now has a BBL to sign before his SONA this coming Monday.)
Roque said Duterte was expected to sign the bill into law on the same day the Senate and the House of Representatives would ratify the measure.
“Yes. Well, that will have to be the procedure because both Houses will meet separately to open the third regular session of the 17th Congress. And the ratification will happen there,” he said.
“So anytime now, he can actually sign as soon as we receive the consolidated version of the proposed Republic Act. The President can sign,” Roque added. “I think so. I think that’s a fair expectation.”
On Wednesday, the bicameral conference committee concluded its six-day debates and approved the proposed law that would create a new political entity in Mindanao to replace the current ARMM.
The approval came a year after the BTC, which drafted the BBL, submitted the measure to Duterte and Congress.
The passage of the BBL is part of implementing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed between the Aquino government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014.
The first proposed measure for the Bangsamoro people was stalled during the 16th Congress following the conflicting provisions of the Senate and the House of Representatives. CATHERINE S. VALENTE
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