Palace says passage of BOL shows admin political will

July 24, 2018

Once President Rodrigo Duterte signs into law the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law, it would be an evidence of his political will, Malacanang said on Tuesday.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte was just waiting for the ratification of the House of Representatives of the Bangsamoro bill.

Duterte was supposed to sign into law the proposed BOL before his third State of the Nation Address on Monday afternoon if only both Houses of Congress ratified it earlier in the day.

While the Senate approved the reconciled version of the bill, which used to be called as the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the House failed to do so due to the leadership issue that cropped up.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was ousted and former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo replaced him.

Roque said he did not know if a ceremony would still be held when Duterte signs the bill into law.

"But I think it deserves a ceremony of sorts because this is a milestone for an achievement. This is the first time that BBL was enacted after MOA AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) was declared unconstitutional. And I think the fact that it was finally passed by Congress is evidence of the political will of the Presidente himself," Roque said.

Duterte has promised to approve the bill within 48 hours the moment his office receives the enrolled bill.

But he added that he has to read first the entire bill before signing it to ensure that there would be no last minute changes on the proposed measure. Celerina Monte/DMS