the challenge of bangsamoro to our political leadership, and to us as a nation

7/17/2019 The Challenge of Bangsamoro to our Political Leadership, and to us as a Nation

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The Challenge of Bangsamoro to our

Political Leadership, and to us as a

Nation

6 Oct. 2015, Cotabato CityAtty. Christian S. Monsod



Hurdling obstacles

What the senators say



On June 3, 2015, Sen. Marcos said:

“…. The Office of the Presidential Assistant on

the Peace Process (OPAPP) totally ignored the

major stakeholders. The Sultanate of Sulu, theMoro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the

Lumads, the Indigenous people, the Christians,

the Local Government Units and businesses

were abandoned, removed from the negotiating

process.”



But on May 18, 2015, OPAPP sent to

the Senate Committee of Marcos:

• “Significantly, out of these 553 consultation

activities, the GPH Panel has met ten (10)

times on different occasions with

representatives and supporters of the Moro

National Liberation Front (MNLF), six (6) times

with the Sultanates in Mindanao. thirty two

(32) times with the Ips, and one hundred(100) times with leaders and officials of local

government units (LGUs)” .



Marcos on sovereignty and powers:

• Marcos: “BBL seeks to establish limitations to

the powers of Congress. Congress will be

entitled to reserved powers, but the

Bangsamoro would be excluded from the laws

passed by Congress with respect to

autonomous regions. The Bangsamoro

Parliament would become not subordinate,but equal to, our Congress.”



Sen Escudero and Sen Recto

• Sen Escudero: “I thought they will (sic) beautonomous or operating on their own butthey are actually getting double the amount ”

• Sen Recto: "If you create a regionalgovernment, it's an additional cost, not to theBangsamoro people, but to people outside ofBangsamoro, because they are the onespaying for it…. War is expensive, but in thiscase, the peace is more costly."



Sen Miriam’s Committee on

Constitutional Reform

“Ordinarily, ‘peace’ is discussed between thesovereign and the rebels only after the formerhas militarily imposed its will on the latter

criminals. ‘Peace’ negotiations are not asubstitute for military success “

“What relationships persist between the MILFand MNLF, to this day is not easy to determine.What is sufficiently clear is that both groupings

seek to detach themselves from the GROP.”



Hurdling obstacles…

Points of discussion with our political leaderstowards a third substitute or compromise bill



Point 1

• In our country, sovereignty resides in the people.The sovereign powers being exercised by theCongress and the other institutions of

government are delegated powers from thepeople as provided in the Constitution that wasoverwhelmingly approved in a national plebiscite.And that same Constitution allocates powers to

the autonomous regions. It is not a grant by theCongress nor does it constitute a diminution ofthe country’s national sovereignty.



Point 2

- The creation of Autonomous Region of Muslim

Mindanao is about peace, social justice and the

human development of its peoples.

- Framers*: “….An interpretation of any relevant

provision of the Constitution that results in war and

abject poverty would be contrary to its intention.”

- The worse violation of the Constitution are thesubstitute bills that do not implement it.

* Statement of the Framers on Bangsamoro 9 Jan 15



Point 3

• It is the duty of the Congress to enact the organiclaw. The Constitution already prescribes thepowers of this unique political entity.

Unlike laws initiated by Congress, the Organic Act isnot subject to the absolute discretion of theCongress to deny or diminish. The organic act issupposed to spell out the details of these nine basic

powers because the powers not provided by theConstitution and organic law are vested to thenational government.



Point 4

• The CAB has a history of over 17 years of

negotiations. It is meant to implement the

Constitution, not to amend it. The BBL is the

legislative embodiment of the CAB. The CAB

was further vetted by the negotiating panels

and the Office of the President to assure its

conformity with the Constitution and, giventhat process, should be accorded by the

Congress the presumption of regularity.



Point 5

• If, after the Congress has exercised itslegislative powers, there are still provisions onwhich sufficient consensus cannot be reached,

……those provisions should be left to theSupreme Court in the exercise of its power of judicial review. In the delicate system ofchecks and balances and separation of

powers, it is the Supreme Court that is thefinal arbiter on the interpretation of theConstitution. It can delete, but not legislate.



Point 6

• The Constitution is deemed written and read

into every law and contract – hence no need

to keep on repeating it.

• The primacy of “national laws” over the laws

enacted by the Bangsamoro Parliament, is

why the details of the powers under Section

20 must be defined and enumerated in theorganic law, which is also a national law.



Point 7

• We should adopt the concept of “constructive

ambiguity” that is now part of “Lex

Pacificatoria” because we cannot foresee all

possible conflicts of law that can arise. Hence,

the Intergovernmental Relations mechanism

and ultimately the SC on judicial review



Point 8

• All the powers already granted to the ARMMmust be given to the Bangsamoro, such as audit,human rights, civil service.

• Catch-all provision to address unforeseenconflicts – all the powers of the regionalindependent commissions are “without prejudice

to the powers, authorities and duties” of theconstitutional commissions which aresupplemented , not replaced.

P i t 9 Ch k d B l S t



Point 9: Check and Balance System:

Safeguards against abuse of power

• First primacy of the Constitution. Allfreedoms and guarantees of individuals andindigenous peoples are intact, as is the

territory and sovereignty of the PhilippinesState. Specifically providing in the organic law

that the IPRA and Labor Law must be

incorporated in it would open the doors to

every special interest ultimately nullifying orwatering down the powers under Section 20to nothingness.



Safeguards against abuse of power:

• Second, is the power of Judicial Review

of the Supreme Court;

• Third, the President’s general supervision

over the autonomous regions to ensure

that the Constitution and all laws arefaithfully executed;




• Fourth is the power of Congress to amend the

Organic Law (as it has done twice now);

• Fifth, is the direct power of the Bangsamoro

people through initiative and referendum;




• Sixth, are the powers of the independent

constitutional bodies (i.e., the Constitutional

Commissions, the Ombudsman and the

Commission on Human Rights) as well as the

independent regional bodies created by the

Organic Act.




• Seventh, the fundamental principle of

Solidarity, that affirms the “duty of the State

to promote distributive justice and to

intervene when the common good so

requires.”

• Hence, the need to explicitly mention

Solidarity as complementary to Subsidiarity



Point 10:The challenge of Bangsamoro

The Bangsamoro can be a model for social

justice and human development that we have so

far failed to do for the whole of the country. It is

small enough in scale to make a success of it.

And there is a political infrastructure in place

willing to take on the responsibility of

governance that we must trust with power,resources and legitimate firepower.



The Challenge of Bangsamorpo (2)

• Are we incapable of that trust OR are we

afraid to give it the autonomy, powers and

resources to do a good job of it because they

might succeed where we, the christian

majority, have failed despite the promise of

EDSA and the Constitution?



Bangsamoro – what it means to the

rest of the poor in our country

• Bangsamoro is on a cusp and the rest of

the poor in the country are also watchingbecause what happens to Bangsamoro

foretells their own future.



The cost of not creating Bangsamoro

• There are other costs to not undertaking thisunprecedented enterprise – such as, the

dream of the younger Muslim generation ofself-determination, the MILF losing its politicalcapital, the momentum of theaccomplishments to date that are beginningto bear fruit at the local levels, theexpectations of the international community,given the mutual trust at the highest levels.



In short, the challenge to us as a

country……

there is a fortuitous alignment of the

stars that we as nation cannot ignoreor forego.

It may never come again.



Thank You

the challenge of bangsamoro to our political leadership, and to us as a nation

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