Enacting Bangsamoro Basic Law may cause chaos in Mindanao –Philconsa

(Updated 10:43 a.m., May 14) The passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) may cause chaos and instability in Mindanao since the annexes of the peace agreement it was based on contain unconstitutional provisions, the Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa) has warned.

 

Retired Supreme Court Justice Manuel Lazaro, Philconsa chair, said in a position paper presented to members of the House of Representatives on Monday that the proposed BBL presents a “conundrum” for Congress because its implementation will require not just the enactment of several laws, but also the amendment of the Constitution. 

 

The proposed law is based on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed earlier this year by the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

 

According to Lazaro, the CAB bound Congress and the judicial departments into agreeing to the creation of the proposed Bangsamoro political entity even though the government is not in a position to concur on their behalf.

 

“The Executive branch had no power to bind Congress and Judicial Departments—unless the Executive believes [they] are its lackeys,” he said.

 

The deal states that “the Bangsamoro shall be established and the two parties shall ensure the establishment of a new Bangsamoro political entity.”

Palace, MILF react to Philconsa


For his part, Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator and chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, told reporters Tuesday the proposed BBL did not violate the Constitution.

"No, it never violated any provision of the Constitution because we have five lawyers in the BTC and they know also the Constitution," he said.

Iqbal added however that he does not want to engage in debate about the constitutionality of BBL "because that would be the function of the Supreme Court. Second, it's the responsibility of the Office of the President to consider whatever they file would be within the confines of the Philippine Constitution. That's the take of the Office of the President."

He added Philconsa is welcome to question BBL before the SC. "That's their privilege. If they want to do that, they can do it," Iqbal said.

 

Treacherous word

 

The deal is also problematic for Lazaro because of the confusion regarding the relationship between the government and the envisioned Bangsamoro government, and where the Bangsamoro political entity should be located. 

 

The former Justice said it is tricky—and treacherous—that the CAB defined the relationship between the national government and the Bangsamoro government as “asymmetric.”

 

“[This means it] has no fixed and agreed meaning. It is nothing and everything. It is tricky—[a] treacherous word,” he said.

 

Lazaro also noted that the agreement stated the inclusion of Cotabato City and Isabela City in the proposed Bangsamoro political entity even though their residents have refused to be a part of Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 2001. 

 

The other areas proposed to be a part of the Bangsamoro land are the six municipalities in Lanao del Norte, 39 barangays in North Cotabato, and any areas contiguous to the current ARMM provided that 10 percent of their voters petition to join the new territory in a plebiscite.

 

“[These areas] would be incorporated even if only one in every 10 voting residents agrees. Is this a democratic or coercive process?” Lazaro asked.

 

Zamboanga Rep. Celso Lobregat had warned in a Senate hearing that including non-ARMM municipalities and barangays in the proposed Bangsamoro political entity violates Section 10, Article X of the Constitution which states: “No province, city, municipality, or barangay may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its boundary substantially altered, except in accordance with the criteria established in the Local Government Code and subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite.” 

 

“That’s 50 percent of votes plus one, not 10 percent,” Lazaro said. — with Kimberly Jane Tan/KG/KBK/RSJ, GMA News