Congress adjourns, fails to pass BBL

Inquirer.net | 4 February 2016

Congress Wednesday failed to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), a key component of the
peace deal signed by the Aquino government with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) aimed at creating a new Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao, igniting fears of fresh
violence [to whom?].
President Benigno Aquino had lobbied hard for the passage of the bill, but was unable to muster
enough support in the House even to secure a vote Wednesday [why?], the final session day
before Congress adjourns for the election campaign.
Failure to pass the bill means it cannot be passed under Mr. Aquino, whose six-year term ends in
June, with no certainty over whether his successor will even pursue a peace deal [but what is its
impact to the stakeholders of the supposed BBL?].
Asked if the failure to pass the bill could spark violence, chief government negotiator Miriam
Coronel-Ferrer told Agence France-Presse: Thats the danger. Thats why we are taking steps,
calling for sobriety.
This delays the final settlement, said Teresita Deles, the presidential peace adviser. There will
be elements [what elements?] that will completely lose hope that this can really be done, she
said.
Ferrer said hard-line Muslim rebel groups like the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which
opposed peace talks and vowed to continue fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the
south, could exploit the setback.
They will be emboldened to renew their course in the hope that they will harvest the
discontent, Ferrer said.

Ferrer blamed the sheer indifference and chronic absenteeism of a number of House members
for the failure to pass the BBL [lack of balance; no opinion from the congress].
It is only expected that the Filipino people, especially those in the Bangsamoro, who had pinned
high hopes on this new law are grieving, hurting and once again, dreading what tomorrow may
bring, she said.
Chief MILF negotiator
Mohagher Iqbal said the rebel leadership was working hard to avoid a repeat [of what?], and
vowed to continue working for peace with Mr. Aquinos successor.
He told ABS-CBN television there could be a feeling of repression within the MILF ranks, but
the leadership was countering with massive engagement.
We just explain to them that here lies the problem in the peace process. We will never cease
engaging in the peace process, he said.
Iqbal said the peace negotiators on both sides have set an emergency meeting to discuss what the
next move should be.
He said the two panels would come out with a joint declaration in the light of the new
development.
Iqbal did not say when the meeting would take place. He said the emergency meeting would not
usher in a new round of negotiations.
Meanwhile, an MILF leader Wednesday said the reported tension between government troops
and MILF forces in Lanao del Norte province has been defused and the situation was now back
to normal.

Toks Ibrahim, the head of the MILFs normalization secretariat, said in a phone interview that the
tension subsided when the MILF commander Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Bravo, agreed
to pull out of Kauswagan town, following negotiations.
Ibrahim said the tension started on Monday when Macapaar wanted to visit his old camp in
Kauswagan after attending an event in connection with the normalization process. The event was
properly coordinated with the government but not Bravos visit.
Because the planned visit was not coordinated, soldiers from the 15th Infantry Battalion and 2nd
Mechanized Brigade based in Kauswagan positioned themselves on Macapaars route in
Barangay Delabayan.
Von Al Haq, the MILF spokesperson, said members of the MILFs ceasefire committee talked
with Macapaar and made him understand that he had to back out until coordination for his
planned visit was made.
Fears about renewed attacks by the Macapaar group largely fueled the tense situation in
Kauswagan as his presence in the town came after Congress failed to pass the BBL.
MILF leaders said this was not the case, insisting that Macapaar just wanted to visit his village.
Meanwhile, Senate President Franklin Drilon said yes and no when he was asked whether the
failure to pass the BBL would affect the Presidents legacy.
Yes, in the sense that he was not able to complete the structure. No, in the sense that he was able
to come up with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which, by the way, can be
pursued, he said.
It was not as if the peace process died with the President, Drilon said.

He has set the framework, we have the Comprehensive Framework on the Bangsamoro, there
are the steps that outline one of them being the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the
change in the form of government to fit the Muslim region, he said.
He said the BBL bill can be refiled and urged the next President to be elected in May to push for
its passage.
It can be refiled and all the experts opinion, all the testimonies of the resource persons, need
not be taken again, it can incorporated in the present law, Drilon said. AFP and AP, with
Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao; and Jerry Esplanada and Jonathan Leonor, Metro
Manila

Source:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/761319/congress-adjourns-fails-to-passbbl#ixzz3zAAwuX19

News Values present: timeliness, proximity, currency, conflict, prominence

Based on the lead, the article focused on the currency of the story, as it presented the
latest development of the BBL issue, although it did not give much of a backgrounder of

the discussions/debates/reasons behind it that would have shown more continuity.

It could have focused more on the impact or the conflict surrounding the issue since 1)
the BBL bill itself suggests a lot of changes that would impact not only those in the
Bangsamoro area, but also the law of the country, and 2) there are at least two opinions
regarding whether it should or should not be passed in the first place. It failed to give the
reasons given by the congress for not passing the bill.