Duterte certifies as urgent passage of Bangsamoro bill for SONA in July
President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) as he wants it signed in time for his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, officials said on Tuesday.
In the launching of #RealNumbersPH Year 2 in Camp Crame in Quezon City, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the certification of the bill came after Duterte's meeting with both leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Monday night.
"As of a few minutes ago, the Office of the Executive Secretary issued a certification as urgent the versions, both versions of the BBL pending in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate," he said.
He said, "differences (of the versions) will be threshed out (later)."
Roque said once both chambers have reconciled and finalized the version, Duterte will sign the bill.
Congress will adjourn sine die on June 2. Session will resume on July 23, coinciding with Duterte's SONA. Duterte initially vowed to have a BBL by May 30.
Earlier in the day during his press briefing in Bontoc, Mountain Province, Roque said Duterte would no longer certify as urgent the passage of the proposed measure due to the different versions of the bill in both Houses.
This was contrary to the statement of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, saying that Duterte would certify the bill as urgent.
He said during the meeting in Malacanang on Monday night, it adjourned with a "general consensus" that the two Chambers conclude their work at the "earliest possible time."
"And if there are varying versions, that the mandated bicameral committees of both Chambers meet to come up with a joint reconciled and accepted version.The president said he would certify the bill as urgent," he said in a statement.
"It will be passed and signed by the president into law in time for its announcement during the State of the Nation Address in July, this year," he added.
Prior to meeting the leaders of the House and the Senate, Dureza said Duterte met separately with the leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front headed by Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Mura Ebrahim.
The MILF is the main group pushing for the passage of the BBL as part of its peace agreement with the Philippine government during the previous administration.
"Then he convened separately the government sector. The President initially expressed his own personal views and initial assessments which resonated well to all," Dureza added.
Duterte's supposed certification of BBL as an urgent measure would allow the legislature to forego the “three-day rule” and approve the measure on second and third reading on the same day.
The Constitution provides that “no bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its Members three days before its passage, except when the president certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency.” Celerina Monte/DMS
