BANGSAMORO BASIC LAW: Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, listens to Datu Abul Khayr Alonto, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Central Committee chair, during Monday’s (May 18, 2015) hearing on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. Alonto said they stand together with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.(MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking to declare as unconstitutional the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which is currently still being deliberated in Congress.
In a full court session, the magistrates said the petition, filed by Rolando Mijares, was denied for being premature.
“This case was dismissed for being premature,” said SC Public Information Office chief and spokesman Theodore Te in a media briefing.
Te also said Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, chair of the government negotiaring panel that negotiated the FAB before being appointed to the SC, has voluntarily inhibited himself from participation in the pending cases and any future cases involving the FAB, the C
In Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesperson Usec. Abigail Valte agreed with the SC’s decision on the draft BBL, whose passage is being pushed by President Benigno Aquino III.
“The bill is not even law yet and it undergoing the legislative process still,” Valte said in a text message to reporters.
Meanwhile, the high court ordered the government to comment on two separate petitions seeking to void its two deals with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front related to the draft BBL, namely the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
The two petitions were filed by the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) and former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras.
In its 26-page petition, Philconsa, led by its president Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad, asked the SC to stop the Department of Budget and Management from releasing funds to pursue or implement the FAB, the CAB, and the BBL.
Joining Romualdez and Tatad in the petition were Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, Archbishop Fernando Capalla, Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz, and former National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales.
The group said the balance of unspent funds intended for the contested deals should instead be returned to the National Treasury.
Likewise, the petitioner also asked that the Commission on Audit be disallowed from auditing funds and expenses incurred by the government panel.
The chairs of the government peace panel – Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen for the FAB and Miriam Coronel-Ferrer for the CAB – should also be admonished and be warned “to be more prudent and cautious in dealing with the amorphous, self-styled entity, exclusively to the exclusion of other Muslims, Christians and Lumads,” said the group.
Romualdez is the cousin of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who chairs the Senate committee on local government tackling the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. Marcos has voiced concerns on the constitutionality of the measure and the supposed lack of consultation with stakeholders during the government’s negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In his 35-page petition, Paras meanwhile also requested Leonen to inhibit from hearing his petition since he was among the signatories of the FAB as then-chief negotiator of the government prior to his appointment as SC magistrate in November 2012.
Paras said both the FAB and CAB did not conform with the consultation requirement under Executive Order No. 3 and the Memorandum of Instructions of the President, in violation of the constitutional right of the people to information on matters of public concern under Section 7, Article III of the Constitution.
Paras likened the FAB and CAB to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which he said was also negotiated and signed without any public consultation. The MOA-AD was eventually declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on October 14, 2008. (MNS)