Speaker Belmonte says ad hoc committee to handle proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. / Wikipedia Photo

MANILA, June 4 (PNA) — Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Wednesday said a special committee will be formed to handle the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

“It (proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law) could go to several committees, so I decided — subject to the approval of everybody — to create a Special Committee (so) all of the Committee chairmen will be Vice Chairmen of that Mother Committee,” Belmonte told reporters in a press briefing.

The House leadership said that with this set up, every standing committee is well represented, “and among the chairmen, we will choose who among them will be the chairman (of the mother committee).”

He assured that the chairman should hail from Mindanao and knowledgeable to the issue.

“When I say knowledgeable, knowledgeable of the interest of the people of the country and of course of the people affected,” he pointed out.

According to Belmonte, the ad hoc committee can continue to conduct hearings even with the start of the proposed national budget for 2015.

The proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2015 is expected to be submitted to the House of Representatives after the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Aquino III, which is set on July 28.

Asked if there is enough time to scrutinize the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, Belmonte said, “what Malacanang has been doing is working on it because as we have made it plain to them it must conforme to our Constitution and they have been working on it along that line,” he said.

The Speaker stressed there is still time to tackle the proposed law as the timeline for its passage is up to the end of this year.

(PNA)