BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES

QUEZON CITY -Fourteen of the 109 pages draftBangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) have been approved by the AdHoc Committee on the BBL during the first day of the 3-day voting at the House of Representatives-South Wing Monday.Observers, including the minority bloc, known as Makabayan bloc - were convinced the ruling Liberal Party, the party of President Aquino, used its numerical superiority in approving 14 of the 109 pages of the draft which was crafted after a meeting in Malacanang over the weekend.

QUEZON CITY – North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco was
sad and frustrated her proposed amendments to the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)was ignored and rejected during the first day of scheduled-three-day committee
level voting at the House of Representatives Monday.

COTABATO CITY-As members of the House of Representatives begin voting (today, May 18) on the provisions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), officials and employees of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) gathered at the regional office’s compound in Cotabato City to affirm their support on the passage of the proposed legislation. Hundreds of employees of the ARMM attended a short program held after the regular flag-raising ceremony to show their support to the BBL noting the proposed measure would lead to a lasting peace in Mindanao.

QUEZON CITY -- The chairman of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc committee on Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) said on Monday they decided to retain six of the eight provisions earlier agreed upon to be deleted.Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, the panel head, said that instead of removing the six other alleged unconstitutional provisions, the committee decided to just reword” them, especially those already included in the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

PIGCAWAYAN, North Cotabato -- Thousands of villagers from different North Cotabato towns converged on Sunday and pledged support en masse to the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.The North Cotabato folks staged a peace rally” at the town proper of Pigcawayan in the first district of the province, where dignitaries, among them government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, talked lengthily about the importance of the draft BBL.The bill is premised on the two compacts between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the October 15, 2013 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and the Mar

COTABATO CITY -Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Monday prayed together in an open field here for the speedy approval by Congress of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).The event was preceded by last week’s peace rally” here by the rank-and-file personnel of different public offices in the autonomous region, where organizers appealed to lawmakers to pass the draft BBL without revisions.ARMM Gov.

COTABATO CITY -- The 75-member House AdHoc Committee will start voting today the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law with peace advocates hoping it will give more autonomy in Muslim Mindanao.Cagayan Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, AdHoc Committee chair, said voting is expected to start at 9:30 a.m. today until 4 p.m.

Presidential
Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Sec. Teresita Deles has urged Friends of
Peace (FOP) and other groups pushing for the passage of the draft Bangsamoro
Basic Law (BBL) into law, to hold on and keep praying and working for peace.

MANILA -- Members of the House AdHoc Committee on the Bangsamoro may be coming up with a separate and new version of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), officials to reporters at the House.Despite lengthy hearings conducted by the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the panel chairman admitted on Thursday that there is still no final version of the measure, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported today.Cagayan de Oro City Rep.

MANILA -- The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is still on track towards passage by the two chambers of Congress, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III said in a radio interview aired today, May 14.The President the so-called delay in the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL is actually a positive development” and not a problem compared to the situation of the bill after the Mamasapano incident.But Aquino pointed out that he and other peace supporters would find a watered-down” version of the BBL unacceptable because it will be tantamount to reducing benefits accruing to the Bang