Bangsamoro Bill scrapped if not passed on December 16

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The principal author of the Bangsamoro Bill was losing his hope on the approval in the House of Representatives.

“Only 10 session days left to pass the bill,” said Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez yesterday.

If the Bangsamoro Basic Bill passed by the lawmakers before they go on a month-long Christmas break in mid-December, the bill would create a new Bangsamoro region in Muslim Mindanao, said by the chairman of the ad hoc on the Bangsamoro.

“We’ll be running out of time when we reconvene in January. Mustering a quorum will be more difficult,” he said.

President Benigno Aquino III said to Rodriguez the bill could still be passed if there’s a “more forceful intervention.”

He proposed that Aquino should personally appeal to lawmakers to work on and pass the Bangsamoro Bill.

The bill is still in the period of plenary debates in the Congress.

Several colleagues of Rodriguez said their intention to grill him on the bill he’s sponsoring.

Minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile asked at the Senate for at least one week to ask questions about the Bangsamoro Basic Bill.

The two houses of Congress will have their month-long Christmas recess on Dec. 19. While Dec. 16 was their last session day of the House for this year because it is only convening only from Monday to Wednesday.

The Congress will only have nine days of session after it reconvenes on January next year.

Aquino urged his congressional allies to approve the Bangsamoro Bill, but the House failed to muster the quorum on Monday despite appeals from some members for attendance.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III urged his colleagues over the weekend to show up in the few remaining sessions for this year.

“So much to do but very little time left. We must do our utmost not only to pass vital pieces of legislation but to also leave a legacy of being a working and productive legislature,” Albano said.