With less than a year left before a new President is elected, Congress will soon be tackling priority bills the current administration is pushing for.
Bangsamoro Basic Law
First on the list is the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
The measure is pending at the House of Representatives, and the Senate is waiting on a substitute bill. What are the chances of it being passed?
Former Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan doubts it will ever be passed.
He said that there’s tremendous resistance against the BBL — a measure seen to end decades-long conflict with rebels in the south.
“For the sake of argument, if it passes the legislature, to me the chances are quite slim especially at the level of the Senate. But in the event that it is passed by the legislature they still have to hurdle the SC [Supreme Court]. That will be the final battle ground,” said Alunan.
Alunan maintained the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has not been transparent and inclusive. Because of this, he said that people in Mindanao believe BBL will not solve the unending cycle of violence there.
“Whether the BBL is passed or not, The MILF for example, if the BBL is not passed they will go to war. They’ve said it themselves. If the BBL is passed, those who are excluded from the talks — and many were excluded — said they won’t take it sitting down,” Alunan said.
Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos,Jr., chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, argued that cannot support the BBL in its present form.
“[T]he Philippine Peace Panel and the OPAPP had not consulted anyone but the MILF. So if I said it would lead us to perdition, it will lead us back to war, we have already had the Zamboanga uprising. Do we need a clearer indication of what the reaction would be of other groups to this BBL in the form that it has been presented?,” the senator said.
Freedom of Information Bill
Another equally contentious measure is the Freedom of Information bill.
The President vowed to pass the law before he steps down.
While the bill passed the Senate in March last year, it has yet to get past the second reading in the Lower House.
Senator Grace Poe, author of the bill, has been urging Congress and the President to prioritize the measure.
“If I had my way, every citizen should be able to access government contracts, project details and project allocations. This is the purpose of the FOI that has been one of my priorities since day one,” said Senator Grace Poe during her speech at the Rotary Club Journalism Awards.
“Freedom of Information has been enshrined in our laws combined with the wonders of technology with the powerful weapons to kill the cancer of corruption.”
But Vergel Santos, Board of Trustees Chair of the of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, said that he is not hopeful that the bill will be passed into law.
“[W]hat I had seen being discussed now in congress is a pathetic parody of freedom. I can’t imagine [it], but I’m not surprised.”
“[T]he potential targets of such legislation are [the] people in Congress themselves. The mere fact that there have been more than 20 versions of the bill should give you an idea of the confused play of interests surrounding the bill,” Santos added
In the absence of such a law, Santos said that the Aquino administration has at least ensured some measure of transparency.
“[T]he problem is not only in Congress. It is a problem of culture… the kind of people that we elect in office, the kind of people who run our lives socio-politically — people who should be doing all those things as well.”
Economic charter change bill
Another important legislation is the Economic Charter Change Bill. It’s not on Aquino’s priority list but Congress seems bent on passing it. It is a measure that introduces changes in the 1987 Constitution to allow more foreign investment in the country.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said that the measure has a good chance it will get the Senate’s nod.
“We are not amending immediately the so-called economic provisions. What we are amending is the manner with which we can change the policies insofar as the economic provisions are concerned, by adding the phrase, ‘unless otherwise provided by law’,” Drilon said.
“That is why my confidence level is high that the senators will be generally supportive of this process,” the senator added.
Analyst Dindo Manhit believes Congress should fast-track the approval of the bill.
He pointed out that while the country has seen better economic growth, with gross domestic product increasing by 5.2% during the first quarter of 2015, people do not have jobs, “because of our provision in our constitution of limiting it [specific business] to 60% ownership of Filipinos.
“It has limited our investment to the point that among the big ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nation] countries, we are ranked number six in terms of investments.”
Manhit insists allowing foreign investment in different sectors will create job opportunities, thereby creating inclusive growth.
Other major legislative measures passed into law include the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Eudcation Act, Reproductive Health Law, Armed Forces of the Philippines Reform Act, and the Whistleblower Protection Act.
