Militant lawmaker lays blame on Aquino for death of BBL

Even without the Mamasapano clash, President Benigno Aquino III himself sabotaged the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) when he allowed Congress to make drastic changes to the measure, a militant lawmaker said Tuesday.

In a privilege speech, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said House Bill 5811, or the proposed Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR), falls short and fails to adequately address the aspirations of the Bangsamoro and indigenous peoples' struggle because it only grants limited autonomy and does not address the social and economic roots of poverty and injustice.

"What is happening now is that through Congress, the Aquino administration is taking back the proposed additional powers granted to the Bangsamoro in the original BBL draft submitted to Congress and the other concessions negotiated by the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front)," he said.

The lawmaker noted that genuine autonomy for the Bangsamoro people "can never be possible under a neo-colonial, semi-feudal and corrupt state and ruling system."

The Bangsamoro bill was amended to become the proposed BLBAR following a series of committee hearings by the House ad hoc committee on the BBL. House leaders have conceded the measure is already dead since it cannot be passed by Congress due to lack of time.

By allowing the House panel to pass a version of the BBL different from what was submitted by Malacañang to Congress, Zarate said Aquino ensured the measure will not become a law under his administration.

"Malacañang — President Aquino and his allies — have clearly turned their backs on agreements the GPH had signed with the MILF in seeking to take back the many concessions given to the MILF, on the pretext that there are indeed unconstitutional provisions in the original BBL draft that have to be amended or deleted completely," he said.

The final nail on the bill’s coffin, Zarate said, was Aquino’s consent to the conduct of Oplan Exodus, the covert police operation to nab wanted terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan. The incident led to the death of over 60 individuals, including 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers.

"By allowing Oplan Exodus on January 25, 2015 in Mamasapano, President Aquino himself sabotaged the passage of the  then BBL draft," he said.

Already doomed

For his part, Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez believes the proposed BBL was already doomed even before Congress amended it because it supposedly contains several unconstitutional provisions.

"The BBL is diametrically opposed to the Constitution and lawmakers will not allow to approve a half-baked peace bill that will soon be questioned before the Supreme Court and declared unconstitutional. Even without the Mamasapano incident, the BBL is doomed," he said.

Romualdez said the Mamasapano clash may have been "providential" as the 44 SAF troopers’ deaths served as a "wake up call" for the government that time is not yet ripe for the proposed BBL’s passage. —JST, GMA News