Marcos' BBL to ‘fortify’ old politics in Bangsamoro – Ferrer

KIDAPAWAN CITY -The composition of the parliament that would be established in a Bangsamoro political entity as introduced by Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., in his version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), will ‘impair’ the ‘democratization’ of the representation in the assembly, according to government chief negotiator talking peace wit the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Under Marcos’s substitute bill, the party-list representations are limited to only few seats, which, GPH panel chair Professor Miriam Ferrer believed, will just ‘strengthen’ the ‘old politics’ existing in the government. The district representations, not the party-lists, will be the ‘overwhelming majority’ in the Parliament, Ferrer stressed. Kung dati ay 50 percent [sa seats sa Parliament] ay para sa party-list dahil ang layunin ay para ma-democratize ang sistema.E, ang nangyari, higit na komonti ang party-list seats [sa Marcos’s substitute bill].Alam naman natin kung sino ang nananalo sa district elections, di ba?‘Yun din mga dati nang pulitiko,” said Ferrer. For Ferrer, party-list representations in the Parliament will ‘democratize’ the system of government in the Bangsamoro. Under the original version of the BBL, those sectors in the society considered ‘least heard’, which included women, migrant workers, labor sector, and others, are given ‘equal’ representation in the assembly. It’s going to be 50-50 in the original version.50 percent are party-lists, and 50 percent are district representations.With Marcos’s bill, that was changed,” the GPH panel said. Also, Ferrer did not agree with Marcos’ earlier statements, citing as basis his version on the BBL, that the creation of an internal auditing body inside the Bangsamoro is considered an ‘unconstitutional infirmity.’ Kasi, ang punto natin dyan ay wala namang problema kung mayregional COA [Commission on Audit]ang Bangsamoro.Mayroon kangexternal auditmula saCOAthrough its regional auditorsat magkakaroon ka ng internal audit, parangdouble checkinglang yan. Ferrer hinted that there could be some ‘mis-information’ or ‘unfounded fears’ as regards creation of constitutional bodies, including CoA, inside the Bangsamoro. Natakot lang sila.Hindi naman kailangang matakot sila.Wala naman kasi’ng sinasabi [sa original version ng BBL] na mahihiwalay sa COA ang itatayong internal auditing body sa Bangsamoro,” she explained. With all these, Ferrer is still optimistic the two Congress will meet the ‘deadline’ in completing their BBL deliberations. She just cited the lack of quorum in the House of Representatives as one of the reasons for the ‘delay’. [We were told]nagka-dengue si Speaker Belmonte kaya kulang ng tulak saHouse,” she said. Also, there are still 19 legislators who are set to deliver their interpellations on the substitute bill in the House.Many of them, however, do not attend sessions even if it was their time for the interpellation. Hangga’t ‘di pa tapos ang interpellation, hindi makakausad sa susunod na level angBBL,” she said.