Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — President Benigno Aquino III said on Thursday (June 11) that he might support a substitute bill to the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) “if it’s really a better one.”
The President made this reaction to the plan of Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to prepare a substitute bill for the current draft BBL which he said contained flaws, according to the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
“(And) if he did come up with a better bill, good; and if it’s really a better one, why not support it?,” Aquino said in media interview after unveiling street markers named after his parents in Iloilo City.
Aquino, however, refused to give further comment on Marcos’ plan to replace the draft BBL which is a codification of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“I don’t comment on things that I’ve never seen. So he has not shown me anything with regards to this bill. Ano man ang comment ko diyan, sasabihin may bias na naman ako sa kanya. So I think I should keep my silence now,” the President said.
He added tha he was just hoping that process of crafting the best bill will be hastened to finally achieve the government’s goal of finally bringing the peace and development in Mindanao.
“Perhaps, we can set the process by showing it so it can be discussed, and then hasten the process of crafting the best bill possible.”
Aquino, a former lawmaker, acknowledged that every piece of legislation has to face a “heartbreak hill’, referring to the last mile of the famous Boston marathon.
He added that he will try to convince the leaders of both the Senate and the House of Representatives about the importance of passing the BBL.
