BY BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO ON APRIL 7, 2018

SENATE President Aquilino Pimentel 3rd has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that seeks greater autonomy for Muslim Mindanao.

Also on Friday, the 42-member “Visayan bloc” in the House of Representatives echoed President Duterte’s call for the immediate passage of the BBL.

Pimentel said he sought the President’s certification on April 3 when he and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez met with the Chief Executive in Malacañang to discuss the BBL.

The BBL is designed to repeal the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and instead carve out the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR) with stronger powers, such as taxation and use of natural resources.

“Done already,” Pimentel said in a text message when asked whether he had relayed to the President the appeal of Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri for Duterte to certify as urgent the passage of the BBL.

The Senate chief also supported Zubiri’s call to fellow senators to actively participate in the discussion. “We (will request) colleagues to cooperate,” he said.

Zubiri wants the Senate to pass the BBL before the first anniversary of the Marawi siege on May 23, when Islamic State-linked terrorists attacked the country’s Islamic capital.

“Our target is for President Rodrigo Duterte to sign it before the 18th Congress,” said Zubiri, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on the BBL.

“The value of passing the BBL in time for the anniversary of the Marawi siege lies in the need for peace in Bangsamoro areas to assure that development proceeds at a good pace,” he said.

“That’s why I requested the President to certify the BBL as urgent. We will try to pass the BBL by the 23rd of May to have time enough for bicameral conference committee work. We want to ratify it by the last week of work before sine die (adjournment),” he said in a text message.

Congress is on a seven-week break since March 24. It will resume sessions on May 14 until June 1, after which the Senate and the House of Representatives will adjourn sine die on June 22 up to July 23 when Congress resumes its third regular session to coincide with the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the President.

“If we end the period of interpellations by the 21st (of May) and tackle individual and committee amendments by the 22nd (of May), then, we can approve it on third and final reading and ratify by the 23rd (of May),” Zubiri said.

The Visayan bloc, led by Rep. Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental, on Tuesday expressed support for the immediate passage of a BBL “consistent with the provisions of the Constitution.”

“We firmly believe that the BBL will pave the way for long-lasting peace and socio-economic development in the proposed Bangsamoro region by allowing the establishment of a regional government that is anchored on the Bangsamoro identity,” the bloc said in a statement.

“It is high time that we give our fellow Filipinos in the said region an opportunity for self-governance and to fully recognize their needs and aspirations,” the bloc added.

WITH LLANESCA T. PANTI