Which Bangsamoro Basic Law?
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The real issue in the current peace process between the GPH and the MILF is NOT whether a Bangsamoro Basic Law or BBL would be enacted within the given time frame, that is, before the year end. The BBL, definitely, would be enacted! The crux of the debate and for this reason the only thing that matters is WHICH BBL?
There is the original draft passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission or BTC (tasked to write the draft BBL) submitted to the Office of the President or OP last April 2014. And there is now another version of the draft BBL post OP review.
Now there is an ongoing secret debate on which draft Bangsamoro Basic Law or BBL the President should submit to Congress in July 2014.
READ: Joint Press Statement by the GPH and MILF Negotiating Panels July 11, 2014
The news is out that the MILF is unhappy with the draft version of the BBL done by the Office of the President. From the reaction of the MILF leaders, the draft BTC version of the BBL was “mangled” by the OP. This may result to a BBL that is even worse than the Organic Act or RA 9054 that presently governs the ARMM.
The news is out that the MILF is unhappy with the draft version of the BBL done by the Office of the President. From the reaction of the MILF leaders, the draft BTC version of the BBL was “mangled” by the OP. This may result to a BBL that is even worse than the Organic Act or RA 9054 that presently governs the ARMM.
The original draft BBL that the BTC submitted to the OP is simply based on the already negotiated and signed Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro or CAB. The CONTENTS of the original draft were already negotiated, settled, agreed and formally and ritually signed by both the GPH and MILF. In no way would the MILF renegotiate those terms again in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
On the other hand, the OP believes that there are items in the CAB and thus in the BTC-submitted draft BBL that are against the 1987 Constitution. In short, the OP is using the 1987 Constitution as the yardstick in crafting the final draft of the BBL. They would like to see to it that the BBL remains within the four pillars of the Constitution.
Moreover, the government officials, including the leadership of Congress, are often quoted saying that the “BBL should pass any judicial scrutiny.” In short, the OP is making sure that if, and when, the BBL is brought for adjudication to the court, it should pass the constitutional test.
Now the real question is which items in the original draft does the OP deem questionable? And which items are introduced into the new version of the draft that would make the BBL constitutionally compliant?
The real solution to the present dilemma is to make the draft BBL public. Both the original draft and the one coming out of the OP review need to be made public! There are no ifs and buts. We are NO longer in the negotiating mode. We are actualizing what have already been agreed and signed. And the people, particularly the constituency of the core areas, have the right to know. Right now there are groups asking the government to make public the draft BBL.
In the previous peace process, specifically the 1976 and the 1996 Peace Agreements, the Constitution and the constitutional processes have always been the parameters set by government. It is for this reason that both agreements have remained within the four corners of the Constitution and they are deemed constitutional.
On the other hand, this present government has remained VAGUE or ambivalent in putting the Constitution and the constitutional processes as the parameters of the negotiation or settlement. It is for this reason that in the agreed and signed Framework Agreement, the four Annexes, the additional Addendum on Territorial Waters and the CAB have NO reference to the Philippine Constitution and the constitutional processes required. The Philippine government believes that the present Constitution has the “flexibilities” to accommodate all the negotiated, agreed and signed issues and concerns in the above stated agreements.
The MILF is firm in its conviction that the current Constitution would require an amendment to finally address the Bangsamoro aspiration. But the government side is equally firm in its stand that the present Constitution has the flexibilities to accommodate and implement legally the CAB. Moreover, the government has also repeatedly said that they will not sign an agreement that they cannot implement.
In the final reckoning, the government has little option but to submit to Congress a draft Basic Law that is constitutionally compliant. In order to do so, there are items in the draft Basic Law that need to be toned down or simply omitted to make it constitutionally compliant.
Here lies the debate and the dilemma. While the government seeks understanding, the government position, definitely, appears short-changing the MILF from the measure of the CAB.
Here lies the debate and the dilemma. While the government seeks understanding, the government position, definitely, appears short-changing the MILF from the measure of the CAB.
What else is new…? The present peace process appears to be heading in the same direction as its predecessors or antecedents. As the saying goes: “Sa hinaba-haba ng prusisyon, sa simbahan din ang tuloy.” Thus in the end, the Constitution and its constitutional processes notwithstanding their absence in the agreements remain to be the final measures of what this government can deliver.
A more forthright position is for the government avowedly committed to Daang Matuwid to be honest and admit that the Constitution needs to be amended to accommodate the legitimate aspirations of the Bangsamoro. There is NO way that this aspiration can be addressed by any legalese or constructive ambiguities.
The time has come for the PNoy government to buckle up and put its money where its mouth is. The only way this dilemma can be resolved is to GO the way of constitutional change.
Fr. Eliseo Mercado, OMI is senior policy adviser at the Institute for Autonomy & Governance. Follow him on Twitter @junmeromi. Visit his blog at GMA News Online.