No ‘Quid Pro Quo’ Offered to Pro-BBL Congressmen – Palace

(PNA) – Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on Wednesday denied rumors that incentives have been promised to the congressmen in exchange for a positive vote on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

”Peace and prosperity in Mindanao. That’s the end goal of the BBL. I mean, if you are asking for any quid pro quo (something in return for something else), there is none,” Lacierda answered to the query in a media briefing in Malacanang.

Lacierda also categorically denied speculations that House ad hoc committee on BBL chairman Rufus Rodriguez has been offered a slot in the Liberal Party’s senatorial slate in 2016.

”It’s a very, very categorical, yes, there’s none, whatsoever,” Lacierda said.

He said what the House panel did was “part of the deliberative process” .

”Again, as in any legislative process, it is determined by the majority, I mean, the wisdom of the majority will govern.

When President Benigno Aquino III talked to the congressmen over the weekend, Lacierda said the President has just emphasized the need to change the system in Muslim Mindanao.

”You know the President’s belief is that we need to change the system in Muslim Mindanao. We have already said previously that ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) is failed experiment,” Lacierda said.

”We have established a framework for peace, framework for development, and the BBL is the moving legislation to effect that moving forward — the peace and prosperity in Mindanao,” he added.

Lacierda said the passage of the BBL would bring more investors in Mindanao.

”And I think having the chance for peace and prosperity is in our doorstep with the hopeful eventual passage of the BBL,” he said.

Lacierda also said President Aquino was also concerned on the timetable set for the passage of the proposed law.

”I think we should recognize the fact that there is a — time is getting short. For the situation in Mamasapano obviously delayed timetable for us,” Lacierda said.

The Mamasapano encounter that killed 44 elite police force on Jan. 25 has forced the House and the Senate to postpone all the BBL public hearings to give way to the investigations on the incident.

”We we need to catch up. We need to also capacitate the people from Mindanao, those who are going to take on leadership to ensure that they are equipped with capabilities to govern the area,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda believed that every Filipino would agree that there is a need to pursue “this avenue for peace and development and eventual prosperity of Muslim Mindanao.”

The BBL is a codification of the two peace agreements – the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2013 an 2014, respectively.

Once passed into law, a Bangsamoro government that will replace the ARMM will be established upon the approval of the people through a plebiscite. (PNA) RMA/JFM