MANILA, Philippines — The Senate and the House of Representatives failed to meet its self-imposed deadline yesterday to come up with a final version of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) after lawmakers continued to argue on various contentious provisions.

It was the second time the bicameral conference committee on the BBL missed its self-imposed deadline to finish reconciling conflicting provisions of the Senate and House versions of the landmark measure seeking to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao since it convened on Monday last week.

The body was supposed to finish its work last Thursday but the body hit a deadlock over the issue of territory and provisions on the relations between the national government and the proposed Bangsamoro government.

President Duterte on Wednesday broke the deadlock on the issue of territory after leaders of both chambers sought his decision on the matter. Senate and House contingents could not agree on how the 39 barangays in North Cotabato, six municipalities in Lanao del Norte, the cities of Cotabato and Isabela in Basilan be included in the proposed Bangsamoro region.

As of press time, members of the committee were still going over each line of the 70-page document for a final review behind closed doors of a conference room at the EDSA Shangri-La hotel in Mandaluyong City with the aim of coming up with a clean copy before the end of the week.

The body will reconvene today at the Senate.

Both chambers aim to have a copy that Duterte can present on his third State of the Nation Address on Monday.

While the committee was already in the final stages of reviewing the document, contentious issues still come up. At one point, the lawmakers had to hold a caucus with leaders of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), which drafted the BBL.

Among the items discussed were the wordings of the proposed preamble, the territorial waters and the lawmaking powers of the proposed Bangsamoro parliament.

BTC chairman Ghazali Jaafar protested an amendment by the committee that explicitly states that laws made by the Bangsamoro parliament should not be opposed to the Constitution and respect laws enacted by Congress.

“We think it’s not necessary because it is understood that the laws that we will create in the Bangsamoro parliament should adhere to the Constitution,” Jaafar told reporters.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is also co-chairman of the bicameral panel, said the body agreed to remove the provision.

Zubiri said the committee agreed to the change to dispel perceptions that Congress was limiting the powers of the Bangsamoro government.

The panel also agreed to extend the Bangsamoro waters to 19 kilometers from the coastline of the envisioned region as well as to adopt a “co-management” system over the inland waters that are used as power sources, like Lake Lanao, which provides 30 percent of the power of Mindanao.

The committee also agreed that the Bangsamoro government and the national government would have joint powers over the exploration, development and use of energy sources in the region like oil and uranium.

Deterrence vs Islamic State

Meanwhile, the new Bangsamoro in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao – the law from which the proposed BBL originated – will not only provide independence to all Muslims, but will also deter them from joining terrorist groups like the Islamic State (IS).

“Let’s give peace a chance. We fought very hard and long for this political solution, let’s give it a chance. Kaya sa tingin ko, ito na ang isa sa mga solutions na mawawala na ang extremism sa mga kapatid natin doon sa region (That’s why for me, this is one of those solutions that will eradicate extremism among our fellowmen in that region),” Zubiri said yesterday.

“It’s a win-win solution that (Muslims) are presenting to the BBL. Kasi sila na mismo (Even they themselves), the imams now and the leaders of the communities, will tell them: don’t join (the IS),” the chairman of the Senate panel for the bicameral conference committee told journalists.

“Because now, we have a genuine chance to improve our plight and so iyun ang magiging (that will be the) solution to the recruitment of IS, na iyung taumbayan nila mismo ang magsasabi na (that the citizens themselves will say) it’s not necessary. Extremism is not necessary,” Zubiri explained.

The new measure, which would probably be signed by President Duterte on July 23 when he delivers this third State of the Nation Address (SONA), will be known as “An Act providing for the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”

This amends – not repeals – the current ARMM law so as to “keep it constitutionally compliant” on the basis that the 1987 Constitution provides for the ARMM, as enacted during the time of the late president Cory Aquino in the late 1980s and early ’90s.

The senator repeated that the Duterte administration is eyeing a plebiscite by November for possible ratification, and if ratified, the President can appoint members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority either by December or January 2019. – With Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe