By Jess Diaz, Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate and the House of Representatives should freeze the controversial draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) until the Supreme Court has ruled on three cases that affect the proposed law, a lawmaker said yesterday.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III made the appeal after the high court called on Malacañang and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to comment on the cases challenging the constitutionality of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The government and the MILF signed the FAB on Oct. 15, 2012 and the CAB on March 27, 2014. The proposed BBL was based on the two agreements.

“It would be prudent on our part to await the SC decision on the cases involving the two agreements, since an adverse ruling will surely affect the draft BBL,” Albano said.

He said lawmakers would just be wasting time and taxpayers’ money if they tackle the proposed Bangsamoro law with the high court eventually declaring the FAB and the CAB as unconstitutional.

Albano hoped the high tribunal would expedite its ruling on the cases against the two agreements.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras, and former senator Francisco Tatad and former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales separately filed the cases questioning the agreements.

The House has started plenary debates on the draft BBL. In the Senate, the proposed law is still with the local government committee chaired by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Both chambers intend to pass their respective versions of the measure in September or October.

Last Thursday, Paras said he, Romualdez, Tatad and Gonzales are confident that the SC would declare the FAB and CAB as unconstitutional, saying they are almost the same as the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that the high court struck down in 2008.

The MOA-AD was the initial peace agreement signed with the MILF.

Paras said it was then SC justice and now Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales who wrote the decision declaring MOA-AD as unconstitutional.

“Justice Antonio Carpio wrote a concurring opinion. One of the arguments he made was that one could not call the proposed new autonomous region and its people as Bangsamoro because there are at least 18 groups of residents there who are not Moros,” he said.

He said if the tribunal declares the FAB and CAB as unconstitutional, the inevitable conclusion is that necessarily, the BBL, which is based on the two agreements, violates the Constitution.

Paras urged the SC to immediately grant one of their prayers in their petitions – the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against all Malacañang disbursements connected with the FAB and the CAB.

He said the court should stop the release of funds intended to implement the peace agreements, since if the tribunal eventually strikes down the FAB and the CAB, it would be difficult for the government to recover such funds.

Among the disbursements he wants stopped are those for decommissioned MILF combatants and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) that drafted the proposed BBL.

Under orders from President Aquino, Paras said 75 MILF fighters who were decommissioned two weeks ago were to be given at least P25,000 each in financial assistance and health insurance cards from PhilHealth, among other benefits.

He said the BTC, which is composed of MILF and government representatives, continues to receive millions in funds for operations and salaries.

“Mr. Mohagher Iqbal, the chief MILF peace negotiator, receives a government salary as head of the commission,” he added.