MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday expressed optimism that the House of Representatives could still pass the proposed controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) despite the problem of absenteeism among members.
“I am still hopeful. We will work hard because the peace measure is very important to attain peace and the President was right in pushing for its approval,” he said in a text message to reporters.
“I’ve been texting the members (to help us), from each of the component parties of the majority, of the coalition. I anticipate something better next week,” he said.
Belmonte met last week with leaders of the Liberal Party-led majority coalition to seek their help in gathering sufficient attendance so the House could speed up debates on the proposed BBL.
The bigger political groups belonging to the majority bloc are the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Nacionalista Party (NP) and National Unity Party (NUP).
Sharing the speaker’s optimism on the eventual passage of the draft BBL, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, principal sponsor of the measure, said there is enough time between now and December to pass the proposed law.
“We should not be on election or campaign mode yet. The May 2016 balloting is still eight months away. We can pass the BBL provided there is quorum,” he said.
Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III agreed with Belmonte and Rodriguez.
“I think that we can push for the approval of the BBL along with the 2016 national budget before the end of the year. I am sure we will pass the budget. We should also pass the BBL so that we approve two measures before the election season,” he said.
Realistically, Albano said the House and the Senate could only pass the 2016 budget and the proposed BBL.
“I don’t think we will have time for other measures,” he added.
Rep. Carol Jane Lopez of party-list group You Against Poverty and Corruption does not share her colleagues’ optimism.
“Given that the budget is to be tackled in the plenary very soon and the House is having problems gathering warm bodies, the chances for approving the BBL look slim,” she said.
“My position stays – the draft BBL is constitutionally flawed. So many provisions had either been inserted or left out, without undergoing thorough scrutiny and study. What we don’t want is a measure that will be shot down by the Senate and the Supreme Court,” she said.
Two House members have proposed measures to compel absentees to attend sessions.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Dasmariñas City in Cavite suggested that the chamber’s leadership apply the “no work, no pay” policy that is being followed in other government offices and even in the private sector.
He said if an ordinary employee does not get paid whenever he is absent, he does not see any reason why the same policy could not be applied to a lawmaker.
Rep. Lito Atienza of party-list group Buhay has a more drastic proposal.
“I think that House leaders have a range of penalties that they could impose on absentee members. These include reprimand, suspension and expulsion,” he said.
Due to lack of quorum, he said the chamber has not been able to move the BBL forward since Congress convened on July 27.
Atienza urged his colleagues to attend sessions.
“We convene only for three days a week – Monday through Wednesday. It is our primary duty to show up in sessions. Let us do our job as lawmakers,” he said.
He said House leaders should order a roll call every session day.
“If there is no quorum, then let us adjourn. After several session days of having no quorum, then the leadership can take action against habitually absent members,” he said.
He vowed to question the quorum every session day that attendance is insufficient.
Atienza also urged the House not to pad attendance.
“Last Monday, after the roll call, the presiding officer declared that 185 members were present. However, I and my staff counted only 88 members in the session hall,” he said.
When Makati Rep. Abigail Binay, who was acting floor leader, informed him that the 185 included members who showed up to register their presence but were in the lounge when the roll was called, Atienza protested, saying only those physically present should be counted.
He said he has brought his padding complaint to the attention of Belmonte, who has promised to look into it.
“I frequently do not see some members who are seated not far from me, and yet, whenever there is an attendance report from the secretariat, they have perfect attendance. Either the secretariat does not know how to count or there is collusion to fabricate attendance,” he said.
Duterte: No fighting, please
In Davao City, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said Mindanaoans should not kill each other by allowing those not from Mindanao to decide what is best for those in the south, including the issue on the proposed BBL.
“These are policies that are made by the central government in Manila. People in Manila never really bothered to ask what’s the culture,” he said, noting that even before the Christians came, the Muslim groups already have their own dynamics.
“Pareho tayong taga-Mindanao (We are all from Mindanao), why are we going to kill each other?” Duterte said.
He echoed the warning of President Aquino, presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad that there would be a fresh round of violence in Mindanao if the BBL fails.
Duterte said this was what prompted him to go around the country to promote federalism, which he said is acceptable to the different Muslim groups, including the rival factions of the Moro National Liberation Front headed by Nur Misuari and Muslimin Sema.
Duterte stressed that the Muslims of the islands like the Tausugs of Misuari would not want those in Central Mindanao like the MILF to lord it over them and vice versa.
Saying Mindanao leaders were not consulted prior and during the drafting of the BBL, Duterte blamed Manila’s ignorance and arrogance for the threat of violence in the country’s second biggest island.
Among the front-runners in the presidential race, only Duterte has actively campaigned for the BBL despite his opposition to at least two provisions.