Pres. Aquino would be open to meet senators regarding Bangsamoro Basic Law

Following his meeting with leaders of the House of Representatives on the Mamasapano incident and the proposed Bangasamoro Basic Law (BBL) on Monday, President Benigno S. Aquino III would be open to a similar meeting with members of the Senate, Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said.

"Hindi naman maipapasa ang batas (BBL) ng iisang House of Congress lamang; dalawang Houses ito dapat. Mahalagang stakeholders din po ang ating mga senador at sa aspetong ito, sa pakiwari ko naman ay bukas ang Pangulo sa pakikipag-usap sa kanila kung ito ring paksang ito ang tatalakayin," Secretary Coloma said.

President Aquino met with House members, led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and other representatives, on Monday morning to brief them on the background of the operations to capture high-value terrorist suspects Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, and Abdul Basit Usman.

According to Coloma, who was present at the meeting, the President also emphasized the importance of the timely approval of the BBL “to pave the way for the holding of a plebiscite and if the people will approve the same, to give the members of the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority sufficient time to demonstrate their capabilities."

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have suspended deliberations on the proposed BBL, until the completion of the investigation on the Mamasapano incident. (PCOO News Release)