The Senate and the House of Representatives have approved on third and final reading the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that will provide an autonomous and separate Islamic state in Mindanao.
After a marathon voting session that ended early Thursday morning, the Senate voted to pass the BBL, with 21 senators voting in favor of the measure and zero against. All the senators were present except for Sen. Manny Pacquiao who was reported to be in General Santos City training for his upcoming fight against Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse.
The BBL breezed through the Lower House on Wednesday with a vote of 227 in favor of the bill, 11 against and 2 abstentions. None of the lawmakers proposed amendments in the plenary.
The BBL should not suffer the same fate as the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) that the Supreme Court threw out as “unconstitutional,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said.
To avert a similar disaster, Drilon, a former justice secretary, pressed for the adoption of several amendments to the bill to help ensure it can withstand judicial scrutiny.
The Senate extended its working session until early Thursday morning, with no less than Senate President Tito Sotto ensuring the chamber’s third-reading approval before adjourning.
The senators took time debating at length the P62.5-billion “block grant” provision in the proposed BangsaMoro Basic Law (BBL).
Responding to queries raised by Minority Leader Frank Drilon during the period of interpellations, Sen. Miguel Zubiri, its principal sponsor, assured that that the “block grants” intended for the Muslim-dominated region “will be administered by a board” as provided in the Senate version of the bill.
“It is not a blank check,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, adding the block grant was designed to “make it similar to the IRA,” referring to the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) disbursed by the national government to local units from Bureau of Customs collections.
President Duterte on Tuesday certified as urgent the bill seeking to abolish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and creating the Autonomous Region of Bangsamoro.
A bill certified as urgent need not undergo the three-day rule between the second and third reading, with approval on both levels within the same day.
The bill will be immediately transmitted to the bicameral conference committee to reconcile the differences between versions of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
House Deputy Speaker Bai Sandra A. Sema said the measure would be the “epitome of real autonomy” in the country, and would serve as the “precursor” of the regional autonomy or federal states within a federal system of government in the future.
“In this holy month of Ramadan, the Bangsamoro people await the dawning of peace in the Moroland…. As we humble ourselves by abstaining from food and water during daylight for 30 days during this holy month of Ramadan, may our brothers and sisters pray with us for peace in our country,” Sema said.
Rep. Ruby M. Sahali of the Lone District of Tawi-Tawi, chairman of the Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, said the passage of the bill would be an affirmative action to correct centuries of neglect and injustice against the people in Mindanao.
Rep. Mauyag B. Papandayan Jr. of the Lone District of Lanao del Sur, chairman of the Committee on Muslim Affairs, said the approval of the BBL will resolve the national and cultural divide in the country for over four centuries.
Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said he would not stop anyone from questioning the constitutionality of BBL before the Supreme Court. Several lawmakers said the proposed BBL is unconstitutional as the measure will abolish the ARMM, which was provided for by the Constitution, by only passing a legislation.
Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas Sr. of the First District of Ilocos Norte said Congress will hold the bicameral meetings, together with the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) and the executive department, during the congressional break to resolve conflicting provisions in both versions. Congress is expected to take a sine die adjourment starting on May 31 until July 22.
The measure seeks to establish a political entity, provide for its basic structure of government in recognition of the justness and legitimacy of the cause of the Bangsamoro people and their aspiration to chart their political future through a democratic process that will secure their identity and posterity and allow for a meaningful self-governance.
Under the bill, the Bangsamoro territory shall remain a part of the Philippines.
The measure delineates the core territory of the Bangsamoro to be composed of: 1) the present geographical area of the ARMM; 2) the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagolan and Tangkal in the province of Lanao del Norte and all other barangays in the municipalities of Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigkawayan, Pikit and Midsayap that voted for inclusion in the ARMM during the 2001 plebiscite; and 3) the cities of Cotabatao and Isabela.
The bill retains the central government’s power and control over defense and external security.
It provides that the defense of the Bangsamoro shall be the responsibility of the central government. The central government shall create a Bangsamoro Military Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the Bangsamoro, which shall be organized, maintained and utilized in accordance with national laws.
The measure also calls for the creation of a Bangsamoro Police for law enforcement and maintenance of peace and order in the Bangsamoro but it shall be part of the Philippine National Police.
Meanwhile, some of the major amendments to the BBL include: only one plebiscite will be held between 90 and 120 days (from original proposal of every five years for 25 years) upon the effectivity of the BBL and the block grant to the region will be decreased to 5 percent (from original 6 percent) of the national revenue.
Drilon’s amendments
While affirming his support for the BBL, Drilon asserted the need to “avoid the constitutional issues that led to the downfall of the previous Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain [MOA-AD] in 2008.” He, thus, pitched certain key changes.
Anticipating a case will be elevated to the High Tribunal, Drilon said he wants to “make sure that the BBL that we will pass in Congress is 100 percent in conformity with the 1987 Constitution.”
This, even as he added that “all our amendments are designed to cleanse it of unconstitutional provisions so it can withstand judicial scrutiny. We cannot afford a repeat of what happened in the MOA-AD.” Drilon recalled that the MOA-AD, signed by the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2008, was struck down by the Supreme Court.
He cited the landmark case Province of North Cotabato v. the Government of the Republic of Philippines (GR. 183591), where the High Tribunal ruled the agreement was unconstitutional and illegal, and the process through which it was commenced “whimsical, capricious, oppressive, arbitrary and despotic.”
Delete ‘reserved powers’
To avert a repeat of the MOA-AD debacle, Drilon submitted several amendments in Senate Bill 1717, including a motion to delete the provision on “reserved powers” for the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, given that the Constitution already provides for the residual powers of the national government vis-à-vis autonomous regions. “We reiterate the Section 17, Article X of the Constitution in this section,” he added.
Section 17 Article X provides that, “All powers, functions and responsibilities not granted by this Constitution or by law to the autonomous regions shall be vested in the national government.”
Drilon cited this among the contentious provisions likely to arise when the Senate and the House of Representatives pass their own versions and eventually meet in the bicameral conference committee. “We did away with nomenclatures, used no specific name and simply mirrored the wording of the Constitution, and gave powers to the Bangsamoro government in keeping with the constitutional provisions on local autonomy,” he said.
The senator recalled “it was particularly the wording of the MOA-AD which led the Supreme Court to declare it as unconstitutional, since its provisions vested the proposed Bangsamoro entity the status of an associated state which is not recognized by the present Constitution.”
No ‘Bangsamoro citizenship’
Moreover, Drilon moved for adoption of a provision reiterating “that the Bangsamoro people are citizens of the Republic of the Philippines.” He noted that the BTC opposed the said amendment, which puzzled the senator, saying his amendment only reiterates wordings of the Constitution on Philippine citizenship. “This was introduced to prevent any misinterpretation that there is a ‘Bangsamoro citizenship,’ because we are all Filipinos and we are all citizens of the Philippines,” the senator stressed.
At the same time, the Senate adopted a motion by Drilon proposing to remove the province of Palawan from the list of areas considered as historically part of Bangsamoro territory.