Senate's BBL version junked, Marcos to create substitute bill

PASAY CITY - Senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos on Wednesday said he will make his own separate draft Bangsamoro that he will file in the 17th Congress shutting down doors for the passage of the draft law next week.Speaking at the Senate floor after meeting with local officials within and outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Marcos said the draft law in the Senate that will create a new political entity in Mindanao has many unconstitutional provisions and not inclusive.Many local executives who attended Wednesday's meeting during the public consultations by Marcos' committee on local governments claimed they were not consulted in the drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).He said he cannot pass the bill forwarded by Malacanang, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission. I cannot support the BBL in its present form, Marcos said in his speech. May inihahanda ako na kapalit dito na makabubuti sa lahat. Manalangin tayo para sa linaw ng kaisipan at tatag ng kalooban. Huwag tayong matakot gawin ang tama para sa kapayapaan at pagkakaisa ng bayan (I am drafting a substitute bill. Let us pray for peace of mind and our hearts. Let's not be afraid to do what is right for the sake of peace and unity of our people), he said.Marcos later told reporters that he will complete his draft during the Senate break and he will incorporate some of the provisions of the draft law and the information gathered by his committee during the public consultations he conducted since January.Marcos said he will submit his substitute bill once the 16th Congress resumes in July.Marcos said the OPAPP and the MILF totally ignored other major stakeholers, including the local government executives, the business community, the Indigenous Peoples and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).He said the Senate version of the BBL will pass scrutiny of the Supreme Court once the law will be questioned.