Gov’t ready to defend constitutionality of Bangsamoro bill

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration is prepared to defend the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro draft bill and is confident that the proposed measure could withstand judicial scrutiny, a Palace official said yesterday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told a news briefing in Malacañang that both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) panels have in fact been cautious about the possibility of the bill being challenged before the Supreme Court (SC).

“Both panels already have that in mind. Knowing that anything that will come out of their negotiations would be challenged, they have made sure that they have the proper legal guidance while it was being crafted and that it will stand up to scrutiny,” she said.

This early, some groups – particularly those opposed to the creation of a Bangsamoro political entity in Mindanao – have made known their plans to file a petition at the SC even if the bill has not yet been submitted to Congress.

Valte said the bill, which was submitted yesterday at the office of Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Michael Aguinaldo, would be evaluated by President Aquino’s legal team.

Chief presidential legal counsel Benjamin Caguioa and other legal minds in the executive branch of government are part of the legal team.

Malacañang is hopeful that the bill will be submitted to Congress for its scheduled May 5 reopening of session.

“He could possibly discuss this in his SONA (State of the Nation Address) in the last week of July,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Sunday.

Coloma assured the public that the Bangsamoro draft bill would be submitted to Congress as soon as the President has approved it.

Aquino is expected to certify the Bangsamoro draft bill as an urgent administration measure that will be submitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives for their due consideration and passage at the soonest possible time.

The Bangsamoro Basic Law, as enacted by Congress, shall serve as the organic act for the Bangsamoro political entity will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao provided for in the 1987 Constitution, according to chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.

Apart from the specified timeframe, where a law should have been in place by June 2016 or when Aquino steps down following his six-year term, what is more important is the substance of the peace agreement with the Muslim rebels.

Trial venue ransferred anew

The SC has again transferred the venue of trial of the criminal cases against Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari and 60 others in connection with the Zamboanga City siege last year.

In an amended resolution promulgated last April 1 but released only yesterday, the high court has approved the recommendation of the Office of the Court Administrator for the transfer of the cases from Taguig City regional trial court to the Pasig RTC for security reasons.

The SC also based its order on the request made by the judges of Taguig RTC Branches 69 and 163 handling the cases.

The SC directed the executive judge of the Pasig RTC to raffle the separate cases for rebellion and violations of Republic Act 9851 (Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity) from the Taguig courts.

But in the order signed by SC clerk of court Enriqueta Vidal, the high court limited the raffle of the cases to the five family courts of Pasig RTC which have less case loads than ordinary criminal courts: Branches 69, 158, 162, 163 and 261.

The SC had earlier ordered the transfer of the cases from their original venue, the Zamboanga City RTC, to the Taguig RTC due to “serious security threats.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the cases against Misuari and his men on Oct. 7 last year.

Clashes between government forces and MNLF rebels lasted for 22 days after more than 400 armed rebels attacked Zamboanga City on Sept. 9, 2013 to capture city hall and raised the flag of the “independent Bangsamoro Republik.”

Some 190 MNLF rebels were killed while 292 other suspects were either captured or surrendered.

Twenty-three soldiers and policemen were killed and 180 were wounded, while 12 civilians were killed.

At least 120,000 residents were evacuated after the rebels burned houses to derail the military operations against the MNLF fighters.

Some 280 MNLF men were charged in court. Among them were Misuari’s commanders Ustadz Habier Malik, Assamin Hussin and Bas Arki who have all remained at large.

The DOJ recommended no bail for Misuari and his commanders, and a bail of P200,000 for their followers on rebellion charges.

On the separate cases on RA 9851, no bail was recommended for all accused. On Oct. 9 last year, the RTC issued arrest warrants against Misuari and his commanders.

Meanwhile, MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza said another country is ready to recognize the Bangsamoro Republik as a sovereign state.

Cerveza told The STAR yesterday that the support of a foreign state is the latest boost to the declaration of independence of the Bangsamoro Republik (BMR) led by MNLF chairman Misuari in Sulu in August last year.

Cerveza, however, declined to name the country but said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has proposed a final tripartite  meeting for the official termination of the review of the peace agreement forged by the government with the MNLF.

He said the declaration for Mindanao independence was made after the government sent a notice of the OIC terminating the review of the 1996 peace agreement.

After the declaration of independence in Sulu the MNLF held a series of assemblies in General Santos City, Davao City and other parts of Mindanao.

Another assembly was set in Zamboanga City when the rebels attacked government forces that led to the siege of the city.

Model peace deal

Political parties in Asia have cited the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro forged by the government and the MILF, saying it could serve as inspiration to the ongoing peace processes in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand. – With Edu Punay, Perseus Echeminada, Paolo Romero