House panel to start consulting Mindanao on BBL
• 15:11 PM Tue Oct 14, 2014
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez
COTABATO CITY – The Indigenous
Peoples of Upi and South Upi will be the first to be consulted by the House adhoc
committee on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law as the Lower House starts
consultations on the draft bill.
October 22 will be the
first of a series of consultations and public hearing on the draft BBL. It will
be at the Upi School gymnasium to be presided over by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.
This starts the visit of
a 75-man ad hoc panel that is tasked to scrutinize the draft BBL
Rodriguez, adhoc panel
chair, will be accompanied by Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman-Salliman, vice chairman
of the ad hoc panel, will visit the core territories of the draft new political
entity.
All the 75 members
have been invited, all stakeholders in Mindanao are also invited, Rodriguez said in a statement.
In a separate statement,
Hataman-Salliman said the committee wants to listen to all concerned
stakeholders to ensure that the BBL is acceptable to all.
We encourage
healthy discussions of the peace measure to further refine the BBL draft,
Hataman-Salliman.
Rodriguez sees a healthy
discussion among Indigenous Peoples in the Upi municipalities.
After Upi consultations,
the adhoc committee will proceed to Cotabato City on October 23, Thursday for
similar public hearing at the Notre Dame University, still with Rep. Rodriguez
as the presiding officer.
On Friday, October 24,
the panel will proceed to Tacurong City for the consultations with the people Sultan
Kudarat province (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
Simultaneously, a consultation is also held in Koronadal City (10:30 to 3:30
p.m.) and Gen. Santos City at Mindanao State University gym (11 a.m. to 4
p.m.).
Rep. Pedro Acharon Jr will
preside the consultations in Gen. Santos.