BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao -- Malaysia will continue to invite Malaysian traders to invest in Mindanao even as it expressed continued support to the Mindanao peace process, a ranking Malaysian official in the Philippines told officials of a Moro group in Southern Philippines. Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines His Excellency Dato Mohammad Zamri Mohammad Kassim made the renewal ofcommitment during his visit to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) stronghold in Barangay Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao over the weekend.

MANILA -- Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday are heeding the call of President Benigno S. Aquino III to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and are already buckling down to work on the administration’s priority bill, which solons say is the best option” to bring peace and development to the Bangsamoro and to Mindanao.House Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro Committee Vice Chair and Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop explained that there are only two options for the country -- either pass the BBL, or allow the status quo in Muslim Mindanao to continue.

COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Transition Commission
(BTC) on Wednesday rejected House Bill 5811 or the draft Basic Law for
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR) and called on Senate and House leaders to
pass the original draft of Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

We listed at least 28 provisions of the original
BBL that were deleted or changed in HB 5811,” Mohaqher Iqbal, BTC chair, said.
By that, he said the draft law becomes less autonomous than Republic Act 9054
that created the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

MANILA (PNA) – Senate President Franklin Drilon said on Wednesday a caucus will be held on Aug. 3 to tackle the committee report on the 14 Senate hearings on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).Before the session adjourned on Wednesday afternoon, Drilon informed the body that the Senate Committee on Local Government chaired by Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

MANILA -- The House of Representatives leadership expressed optimism on Monday that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will be approved by both chambers of Congress before the end of the 3rd and last regular session of the 16th Congress.Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said they still have enough time to pass the BBL, noting that they have stripped it of all unconstitutional provisions. We are committed to our Muslim brothers to pass the agreement.

COTABATO CITY -- A Muslim religious leader today urged politicians not to make use of the Mindanao peace process to advance personal interest at its expense. Politicians should refrain from using the Bangsamoro peace process as a platform from which to launch their political bids in the 2016 elections,” Ebra Moxsir, Al Haj, Imam Council of the Philippines (ICP), said.

MANILA (PNA) – The Malacanang-backed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) remains on top of the Senate’s priority bills in the coming third regular session of the 16th Congress.Senate President Franklin Drilon has said the committee report on the proposed BBL will be submitted to the plenary during the opening of the third and last regular session on July 27.”After that, we will debate.

MANILA – With the awaited resumption of deliberations on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law in July, solons reiterated their support to the passage of the law, saying that it does not violate any provision in the Constitution and it is the country's best chance for peace in southern Mindanao. Our committee has made sure that the BBL, now called Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region is constitutional.

MANILA – The government peace panel expressed optimism that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will get the thumbs up of majority of members of the present Congress despite lingering questions of some legislators.

QUEZON CITY -A member of the House of Representatives stressed today that the process of the decommissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) weapons and forces goes together with the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), part of which is the passage and popular ratification of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong said that while these are two different processes, the decommissioning process is inexorably tied to the progress of the BBL in Congress.