Some provisions in Bangsamoro bill may be unconstitutional—govt negotiator

By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News

Published July 22, 2014 8:12pm

Certain provisions of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law may be questioned as unconstitutional, the government's chief negotiator has said.

"Baka siguro, may mga parts that maybe considered as crossing the line. Iyon ang pina-flag natin sa kanila," Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said when asked if there were provisions in the draft law that went against the Constitution.

"We engage in that kind of explanation and finding of alternative solutions that will address the concern. Para parehas tayong hindi sumabit," she told reporters on Monday night.

Ferrer said her team and representatives of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are reviewing the draft law line-by-line to make sure that it was within constitutional parameters.

"We are very open to accommodating ideas. Sometimes, it is in the languaging," Ferrer said.

"'Yung kanilang proposals, kailangang mai-fine tune ang pagkakasulat, kasi maaaring hindi nakita ang implications ng ibang bagay," she added.

Ferrer refused to identify which parts of the draft bill could raise contitutional issues to respect the commitment of both parties to keep some contents of the proposed legislation confidential.

She, however, indicated that some of the contentious issues in the draft lie in provisions involving the structure of government and the fiscal autonomy of the political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The government’s peace process with the MILF was jeopardized in 2008 after the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the MILF.

On Monday, the MILF said its chairman, Murad Ebrahim, will again meet with President Benigno Aquino III in the coming days, supposedly to save the peace process.

Constitutional amendments

Ferrer indicated that some of the MILF's proposals in the draft Bangsamoro law could require Constitutional amendents.

"Malinaw naman ang process natin. We recognize that there are aspirations, aspirations that cannot happen now. We are not denying yung ganitong aspirations nila... Iyong hindi puwedeng pumasok in the form of a law that will be legislated by Congress, that remains part of the aspirations that they can pursue in the future," the government's chief peace negotiator said.

She added that the Bangsamoro Transition Committee (BTC), which drafted the basic law, may accommodate these "aspirations" in the future, because the panel is empowered under the peace pact to propose Constitutional amendments to the Philippine Congress.

"This is precisely why, sa ating agreement, we provided that the BTC can propose amendments to the Constitution. That's the next order of business for the BTC," Ferrer said.

She did not specify which proposals in the draft Bangsamoro law would need constitutional amendments.

Goverment peace negotiator Senen Bacani, for his part, said that among the "aspirations" stipulated in the peace deal was the grant of additional fiscal powers to the proposed Bangsamoro government.

"Sa wealth-sharing annex, nakalagay doon ang aspirations na hopefully in the future, there will be more taxing powers devolved," Bacani said in the same briefing.

Section VIII of the peace agreeement's wealth-sharing annex states that "both parties recognize the Bangsamoro aspiration for the exercise of additional fiscal powers in order to reach full fiscal autonomy, and shall cooperate towards achieving this goal through necessary processes and modalities."

Not watered down

Aside from legal concerns, Ferrer said that the Philippine government and the MILF peace panels were also trying to settle "political considerations" and "policy issues" in the draft law that seeks to create the Bangsamoro.

"'Yung mga detalyeng ito talagang masalimuot kasi expansion ng mga provisions. Lahat iyan importante na pag-aralan ng mabuti. Malinis ang pagkalatag at saka well in place lahat ng parts," she said.

Ferrer also assured that the draft Bangsamoro law wasn't being watered down, as claimed by the MILF.

"Definitely, we have already agreed that there is no watering down of the signed agreements. Ang feeling na nag-water down has to do with the other details provided, if that is how they are putting it," she said.

For now, Ferrer said both parties agreed to give each other some "breathing space" to allow each other " "to consult with their principals."

Last March, the Philippine government and the MILF signed a comprehensive peace agreement stipulating arrangements on wealth-sharing and power-sharing between the two parties, aiming to end the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao. —NB, GMA News

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