14 of 109 page draft BBL approved by House AdHoc Committee

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. All amendments that could significantly alter the final BBL version were shot down, clearly it was railroaded, Bayan Partylist Rep. Neri Colmenares said in a TV interview after the voting was adjourned at about 7:20 p.m. Monday.The committee, chaired by LP stalwarts Cagayan Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, will resume voting at 9:30 a.m. today.Virtually unchanged, the Malacanang draft - named as Chariman's draft and Vice Chairmen's draft- had only two amendments during the voting.The committee approved the first amendment that mandatesthat women shall be represented in all sections” of Bangsamoro government. It was proposed by1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III.Iligan City Rep. Vicente Belmonte suggested the second amendment unanimously approved by the 98 member committee. His amendment replaced the word 'areas with cities and provinces in the section that allows 10 percent of residents in a contiguous areas to join the Bangsamoro after five and 10 years of its existence.