The Bicam panel measures the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region

One year after the bill was tabled in Congress, a bicameral panel on Wednesday evening approved the final version of Bangsamoro's organic law as a crucial element for peace and development. Mindanao

The report of the conference committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will be submitted to the Senate and House of Representatives for ratification on July 23 before being promulgated by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Approval comes after six days of marathon hearings marked by intense discussions that required an intervention from the president himself.

Ghadzali Jaafar, chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (CTB) who drew He said that he was "happy" with the measure. "It may not be a perfect law, but it is good to start," Jaafar told reporters. [196] 59003] The new region that would be created would be known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Bangsamoro law will give substance to the government's peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who headed the Senate group, said the measure met Moro's aspirations for self-government.

"They can now convince the extremists, those who want to create problems there, themselves, the MILF, MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) are partners of the government to convince their people not to join extremism, "said Zubiri

. Cha-cha

Hours before the approval of the measure, the leader of the senatorial minority, Franklin Drilon, told reporters that the imminent approval of the proposed BBL shows that There was no need to revise the 1987 Constitution

Drilon made these remarks in the midst of the administration's preparations for a change of the charter for a shift to federalism, a plan that must still rally popular support as shown by a recent poll that says nearly seven out of 10 Filipinos supporters say federalism was needed to bring more development to the regions, as power and resources tended to be concentrated in the capital , Manila.

But according to Drilon, the craft of the proposed BBL showed that it was possible to give local governments stronger powers and greater autonomy.

If it was ratified, the BBL would grant the Bangsamoro region fiscal autonomy and a global subsidy. It would also allow the Bangsamoro government to decide where to allocate its own resources and impose taxes.

"Better, Faster"

Other powers in the region include the possibility of applying urban and land reform and administering one's own justice system.

Empowering local governments with legislation is "better, faster, and less controversial.

Contestation in the Supreme Court

The BBL would establish a regional parliamentary government, which Drilon considers likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court.

The majority leader in the House, Rodolfo Fariñas, expressed confidence that the measure could withstand any constitutional test and welcomed a challenge from the Supreme Court to prove it.

"We were very cautious, we had several problems along the way because we could not give everything they wanted [BTC members]and in all fairness to them they accepted everything" said Fariñas.

Plebiscite

The Bangsamoro plebiscite will be held no earlier than 90 days and no later than 150 days after the signature of the President. Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who opposes federalism, said on Tuesday that it was not necessary to move to federalism solely to fund local government units (LGU ) after the Supreme Court ruled that the 40% of the revenue allocations for local governments should be based on all national taxes, not just on local tax revenues.

Local authorities could now collect their share of national taxes due since 1992, about £ 1.5 trillion, he said, quoting an estimate by finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

The Supreme Court decision, Davide said, was a "mortal blow" to the arguments of defenders of federalism who said that the federal system was meant to make imperial Manila disappear "and recognize the rights of LGUs to their fair share national funds and resources.

"The Cha-cha train (charter change) can now stop," he added.

In an extended discussion on the final version of the BBL On Tuesday, members of the conference committee and the main supporters of the legislation agreed that the term Bangsamoro should not be mentioned in the preamble.

No 'Bangsamoro' in the preamble [19659028Jaafarsaidthatheandtheothercommissionershadraisedconcernswhenthewords"Bangsamoropeople"wereremovedfromtheintroductiontothebillduringthedeliberationsofthecommittee

Fariñas admitted that he had pushed for the suppression.

was the one who introduced it because of the way it was formulated. The phraseology does not make sense, "said Fariñas.

He said the preamble would have started with the words" We, the Bangsamoro people "but that the use of this phrase would have violated the Constitution The Laws Creating the Muslim Autonomous Regions and the Cordillera

The "we", he explained, should refer to the Congress as representatives of the Filipino people, not just the Bangsamoro.

The BBL is part of the 2014 peace agreement and the MILF, the main Muslim rebel group that is committed to ending their armed struggle for independence in favor of a greater Jaafar is vice-president of the MILF – With a report by Julie Alipala

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