MANILA – The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the bill creating the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Voting 227-11-2, the House approved on third and final reading House Bill 6475, a measure that President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent.
The bill, which aims to abolish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and replace it with the Bangsamoro region, was also approved on second reading on the same day via viva voce.
Authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, the bill seeks to “establish a political entity and provide for a basic structure of government to recognize the justness and legitimacy of the cause of the Bangsamoro people and their desire to chart their own political future through a democratic process, securing their identity and allowing self-governance.”
Prior to the bill’s passage, the House conducted three all-party caucuses and discussions with the Bangsamoro Transition Commission over contentious issues about the measure.
Among the amendments made on the original version of the bill was placing the police and military forces under the national government and providing for only one plebiscite for the opt-in provision.
The House-approved version will now be transmitted to the Senate./PN
