Former Supreme Court associate justice Adolfo Azcuna on Tuesday said the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law being tackled by Congress would not violate the 1987 Constitution, as it remains “democratic” in nature.
Responding to BBL subcommittee chairman Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri query on the bill’s constitutionality, Azcuna noted that it “complies with the Constitution.”
“I maintain that the proposed BBL complies with the Constitution. The governor is still elected by the parliament; indirectly elected by the people and directly elected by the parliament,” said Azcuna during the 5th joint committee hearing of the Senate on the BBL draft.
Azcuna also said the approval of the expansion of the new autonomous region should be subject to a plebiscite, “with the entire consent of the political unit affected.” He said the entire province affected should vote, not just the local municipality that wants to be part of the Bangsamoro territory.”
“This is not in the Constitution but that is jurisprudence. As long as majority of that geographic area approves to be member, it will be a member,” he added.
At the start of the hearing, Zubiri said that under the draft BBL of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, the new Bangsamoro government would consist of 80 members of the parliament.
He said 50 percent of the parliament would be comprised of party representatives, 40 percent district or geographical representatives, while the remaining 10 percent would be composed of sectoral representatives.
But Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said the country have failed to develop a strong political party system as he acknowledged the crucial role of political parties in the parliamentary type of government being proposed in the BBL
“This is the fact we have to face. We have failed to develop a strong political party system which is essential in a parliamentary system of government,” Drilon said.
He warned of a “no confidence vote” as always a possibility if the government keeps on changing political parties.
Drilon even referred to the recent activities of the ruling political party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.
“We witnessed that in contemporary political scene, you know just to make a reference, the Inquirer cited the changing political scene in Iloilo because all those who attended the Dinagyang festival were suddenly members of the political party,” he said.
Drilon then asked Azcuna whether a parliamentary system would work for Mindanao.
“I think we should give a chance to our friends in the proposed Bangsamoro to prove themselves because this is what they’ve been practicing,” Azcuna replied.
“Secondly, we should begin somewhere… I think, as the late Senator Diokno used to say, we have to start now if we want to get somewhere. I think we should give them a chance to prove themselves, if necessary let us let them make mistakes necessary in the beginning in order to learn,” he added.
But Azcuna also said this is not an argument against the system and its constitutionality, and that he’s still in favor of adopting the BBL.
The proposed BBL seeks to establish a parliamentary form of government in Mindanao, replacing the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Azcuna said ARMM has been practicing the parliamentary type of government, so it should not be considered an “oddity.”
Drilon later suggested to the BTC which drafted the BBL, to look into the possibility of adding a provision that “will address that weak party system, in order for parliamentary system to work.”
Senators and leaders of the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are convinced that the BBL would help address the longstanding issues in the southern region, specifically their issues on peace, self-determination and injustice. The proposed BBL also seeks to replace the current ARMM.
Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia A. Villar said the BBL is much easier than amendng the 1987 Constitution since the former involved merely pasisng a simple law.
“But the constitutional change, we still have to talk about the manner of constitutional change before going through the provisions that will be changed,” she said.
She added that the BBL seemed to be much easier to pass since everybody has the same goal of promoting peace in Mindanao and the economic development of the people in Mindanao.
“But if there are many details, it’s chaoric,” Villar said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros also asserted that BBL should be passed first before the deliberations of charter change and federalism. She noted that the creation of the Bangsamoro is incompatible with the provisions of President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposed federal model.
“For instance, the Bangsamoro parliament is designed after the sultanate model, taking into account the cultural particularities of the Bangsamoro people. I am worried that this would be diluted in President Duterte’s federal model which contemplates a devolution of powers that is blind to the distinct culture and history of the Bangsamoro,” Hontiveros explained.
Hontiveros said that Duterte cannot use the charter change/federalism process to replace the BBL process as it will result in a situation in which the creation of a Bangsamoro state would effectively be decided by the people of Luzon and the Visayas, instead of the people of Bangsamoro.
“This would not cure the historical and continuing injustices committed against the Moro people and would not be reflective of the gains of the peace process. This would also defeat the Moro people’s rights as a distinct people to freely determine their political status and realize their economic, social and cultural development. Charter change would subject the Moro question into a national plebiscite instead of a plebiscite among the Bangsamoro. This would be fundamentally unjust,” she added.
Hontiveros, who recently visited Mindanao to attend the Senate public hearing on the BBL said that the public must not allow the protracted debates on charter change to hold hostage the government's long overdue commitment to the Moro people to recognize their right to self-determination.
“The process of changing the constitution has not even started yet. In fact, Congress is still debating on whether to vote jointly or separately and what specific provisions of the constitution need amending. Then there will be tedious deliberations and a national plebiscite. Our Moro brothers and sisters have waited long enough for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). It is our surest path to peace,” Hontiveros said.
The Senator also branded Duterte's federalism as fake and anti-BBL.
“Federalism is a call born of the need to redistribute political power and disperse economic development to other regions in the country. I support a federal set-up where accountabilities are clear and decentralized, and, government institutions are made more accessible and brought closer to citizens,” Hontiveros said.
“However, President Duterte's federalism is the opposite of this. It is fake. Ultimately, I fear that Duterte’s version of federalism, which his allies plan to achieve through an undemocratic and Senate-less constituent assembly and subsequently, reward themselves with term limit extentions, might be used as a monkey wrench to defeat the Moro people’s legitimate aspiration for self-determination as embodied in the BBL,” Hontiveros said.