ISSUES RE BARMM-BTA TENURE
A rather burning issue has engaged the professionals in the Muslim Autonomous Region. The lawyers and other lettered residents have heated hermeneutics on certain legal issues, not the least of which is the term of office of the deputies and other officials of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the power of the Interim Chief Minister to make appointments/designations and disburse funds after 30 June 2022. Moro chat rooms are abuzz with expression of diverse opinions, betraying divide among themselves.
Amid the debate I received an email of an “Opinion,” an Open Letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other national officials pointing out a position grounded on strong logic, jurisprudence and laws complete with citations. It is plainly a product of a tedious and conscientiously profound research. The 21-page exposition is well-written and could only be prepared by a veteran lawyer exposed in the art of drafting court pleadings. It is unfortunate though that the sender hid behind the alias “moro muhami,” the email sender. I have no way of identifying his real identity. But that does not make his arguments less valid.
Let me digest the arguments and advance my personal comments. As a caveat, my position is basically off the cuff, based on my stock knowledge of fundamental laws and jurisprudence. I have no time and patience to conduct serious research. It will distract my preoccupation with my golf game searching remedy for my perennial slice and shank.
The “Opinion” has raised profound issues. I could have yielded this column by reproducing the contents, as I have done in many instances. But I digressed because of the anonymity of the sender whose consent I could not solicit. Allow me therefore to just observe the convenience of saliency, meaning, picking out snippets of the insights that are salient and shelving the trivia.
The foremost issue is the term of office of the Deputies and other officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao after 30 June 2022. The “Opinion” has argued that the issuance of Presidential Memorandum Circular 1 ipso facto terminates the tenure of these officials. The principal argument is that they are presidential appointees and therefore are covered by the Memo. Unfortunately, the “Opinion” failed to address the fact that the coverage of the Memo is qualified by the enumeration and definition of who should be considered terminated or resigned. It is written in plain words.
I may not possess the “cold neutrality of a judge,” but I cannot find logic nor support from the text or spirit of pertinent laws to categorize the appointment of the BTA members as “co-terminous” with the appointing president; or “occupying a position created in excess of the authorized staffing pattern;” or “non-Career
PRINCIPAL ARGUMENT ISTHAT THEYARE PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEES AND THEREFORE ARE
COVEREDBY THE MEMO.
Executive Service Officials occupying an Executive Service Position” nor “contractual and/ or casual employees,” which are the parameters of the Memo. Meaning, my position is that the circular does not cover the Deputies and other officials of BARMM, ergo, not considered resigned after 30 June 2022.
The law on holdover positions and prevention of lacuna in the delivery of public services weighs heavily on my analysis. These are fundamental precepts which cannot be easily set aside by citation of effete laws and jurisprudence that are off-tangent to the central issue.
That being my perception, I beg to disagree with the “Opinion” that the interim Chief Minister cannot make designations. Sedition for alleged violation of Memo Circular 1 is overreaching the law. Likewise, he can disburse funds of the BARMM needed for the operation of the regional government. Any contrary position will lead to more serious crisis as it will push regional governance into limbo, resulting to paralysis of public service in the nascent autonomous government.
I am almost tempted to quote Shakespeare in Macbeth, “full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” No offense meant. It’s just that sometimes my fertile mind plays funny tricks on circumstances.
Let’s not indulge too much on legalism. Laws were conceived to serve society. Not the other way around.