No need to amend Charter to create Bangsamoro — Enrile

There is no need to amend the 1987 Constitution in order to create a Bangsamoro region as agreed upon by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Tuesday. He also believed the Bangsamoro region could be a good model for the parliamentary system in the country, even as he urged the agreement's critics to give it a chance. "So I think we have to give it a chance and study it very carefully before we start shooting it down," he told reporters. Enrile was allaying fears expressed by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, who on Monday said a change in the Charter is needed to fulfill the government-MILF agreement regarding the creation of the Bangsamoro. On Tuesday, Enrile said creating the Bangsamoro is "doable" even without Charter change. “Walang territory except lands. Territory involves airspace and the high seas," he said.   Enrile believed the agreement was more like a "territorial division of the country, more especially designed for Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera area."   The Senate leader also said if Constitutional amendment is needed, it should have been provided in the government-MILF framework agreement just like what the negotiators did in the Tripoli Agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front.   Enrile said the framework agreement was a great improvement from the Tripoli Agreement and the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 2008.   He said it might take time for the  framework agreement to be implemented, "but in the meantime, I think there is a provision that the President can issue an executive order to cover the transition period subject to the modification that the Congress may introduce if that is warranted." New armed group always a possibility   Enrile believed there would be no issue on security as the framework agreement provides a period of time for the demobilization of forces, even as he admitted that a new armed group could emerge even after the finalization of the peace agreement.    "There is always that possibility in a dynamic society, not only in Mindanao but elsewhere in the country," he said.    On the issue of Bangsamoro area having powers the same as the national government, Enrile pointed out that provinces, municipalities and even barangays have the power to manage their own areas.   "Congress, I think has the power to enact a law granting them (Bangsamoro area) a kind of system because they are going to enact mostly on the basis of their Shari'ah and their economic circumstance in the area that is why they are given the power to tax," he said.    On the Bangsamoro being a possible model for the parliamentary system in the country, Enrile said: "I don't think it was provided in the Constitution that we are a unitary system. In fact, we have the features of a parliamentary because of the multi-party system."   "There is, in fact, in the psyche of this country, the desire to adopt a parliamentary system, and maybe they think this would be a good experiment to find out  how a parliamentary system of government will operate," he added. Malaysia   On the possible influence of Malaysia, the mediator in the negotiation, in the crafting of the agreement, Enrile said it cannot be avoided because Malaysia was invited by the Philippine government and MILF to participate in the talks.   He also said that giving in to the demands of the MILF was needed because "we are settling a political problem that pestered overtime."   "I'm not saying that others should not have their opinion, but they should study it (framework agreement) first well," Enrile said of those who are criticizing the agreement.    On Sunday, President Benigno Aquino III announced that the government and MILF agreed to create Bangsamoro to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).    The President said the ARMM, which was established 23 years ago, has failed to solve problems such as war, poverty, election fraud, political patronage and warlordism. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News