SC junks bid to void Bangsamoro deals for being premature

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday junked the petitions seeking to declare as unconstitutional the peace deals the Aquino government entered into with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for being premature.

Voting unanimously, the high court said it could not resolve the issue on constitutionality of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) because there is no yet Bangsamoro Basic Law that has been passed.

"Until a Bangsamoro Basic Law is passed by Congress, it is clear that there is no actual case or controversy that requires the Court to exercise its power of judicial review over a co-equal branch of government," the SC said.

Even if there are bills pending in Congress, the Court said it cannot exercise its power of judicial review over such proposed legislation as it would be tantamount to the SC giving an "advisory opinion" on a proposed act of Congress.

"The power of judicial review over an act of Congress comes into play only after the passage of a bill, not before," the SC said.

The BBL, which incorporates the provisions of the CAB and FAB, seeks the creation of a new political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

But the BBL failed to take off in the 16th Congress amid suspicion that MILF members were involved in the botched Mamasapano anti-terror operation in January 2015, which resulted in the death of 67 people, including 44 Special Action Force troopers.

Dismissed were the petitions filed by Tanggulang Demokrasya, Rev. Vicente Libradores Aquino, Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), Elly Pamatong and former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras.

In his petition, Paras likened the FAB and CAB to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which he said was also negotiated and signed without any public consultation.

The MOA-AD was eventually declared unconstitutional by the SC on October 14, 2008.

Philconsa, on the other hand, said Leonen, thru the FAB, "agreed and granted unimaginable social, economic, political, and financial benefits to the MILF which the Executive Department may not legally grant without the concurrence of the legislative or the judicial department, or without first amending the 1987 Constitution.”

Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Francis Jardeleza and Benjamin Caguioa took no part due to previous participation in the case as chief government negotiator, solicitor general, and chief presidential legal counsel, respectively. — RSJ, GMA News