Supreme Court will ultimately decide
THE Bangsamoro has become the one great issue at the center of national attention. When agreement was announced last year on a Bangsamoro political entity to be set up in Mindanao, not much attention was given to it. After all, it was just to replace an already established Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), but with greater autonomy.
The Mamasapano incident of January 25, 2015, seemed to have set back the administration’s Bangsamoro plans. This was overcome with the aid of a Peace Council of eminent citizens who recommended some changes in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). But after a meeting with the President in Malacañang, the members of the House of Representatives approved the BBL with essentially the original provisions granting considerable powers to the proposed regional government.
The Bangsamoro project appears unstoppable, with President Aquino declaring he will not accept a “watered-down” bill from Congress, a view also asserted by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last Thursday. The members of the Senate have declared they will subject the BBL to the closest of scrutinies to ensure that all unconstitutional and other undesirable provisions are deleted. But the same assurances were made by the leaders of the House before they approved an essentially unchanged BBL.
A party-list group has decided to strike out on a new path to stop the BBL many of whose provisions it believes to be unconstitutional. Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza and other complainants have filed charges of treason and sedition against the members of the government and the MILF teams that negotiated the agreement. The accused, they charged, instead of protecting the interest of the Republic of the Philippines, gave in to all the demands of the MILF. Buhay party-list stands for peace, Atienza said, but it should be achieved in accordance with the Constitution.
This opposition action will go through the Manila Regional Trial Court, while the BBL bill goes through Congress. Buhay has opted to take legal steps, alongside the legislative process. Whatever finally emerges in these two processes, there will be a final arbiter – the Supreme Court of the Philippines.