Palace counters Miriam: Framers of Constitution OK with BBL

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang on Thursday countered Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago who is insisting that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is unconstitutional.

In a press briefing, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. reiterated that the 14 members of the Constitutional Commission who created the 1987 Constitution are backing the BBL.

"Mainam na gawing batayan ‘yung pananaw ng members ng Constitutional Commission dahil sila mismo ang bumuo ng Konstitusyon," Coloma said.

He said the 14 framers of the Constitution have stated that the BBL adheres to the supreme law of the land in two aspects, namely human development and social justice.

“The core principle of the 1987 Constitution in mandating a special status for the autonomous regions is the human development of the people of Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras. Hence, the public conversation should not be about semantics but about people—their needs, their aspirations, their choices— and about empowering them with the environment and institutional framework for social justice. Social justice that calls for genuine social change is the central theme of the 1987 Constitution," Coloma quoted the statement of the Constitution's framers.

Coloma said the Constitution's framers have emphasized that "An interpretation of any relevant provision of the Constitution that results in war and abject poverty would be contrary to its intention."

The Constitution's framers, Coloma continued, also concluded that the Bangsamoro can be a model for Filipinos in building a "more just and peaceful nation."

The BBL was a result of the comprehensive peace agreement signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last year. It will specify the power and wealth-sharing arrangements between the government and the Bangsamoro entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

But the fate of the BBL is now uncertain after 44 police commandos were killed in the hands of the MILF and its splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, during the January 25 operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

The controversial measure has gained more critics following the Mamasapano tragedy. Santiago, the Senate's resident Constitutional expert, said earlier today that the BBL "infringes our sovereignty" and has an "abundance of unconstitutional features."

RELATED: Read draft BBL first, Palace tells skeptics

BBL infringes our sovereignty.

— Miriam Santiago (@senmiriam) March 5, 2015

There is an abundance of unconstitutional features in the BBL.

— Miriam Santiago (@senmiriam) March 5, 2015

This constitutional problem will prove the undoing of the BBL. The Constitution is immutable.

— Miriam Santiago (@senmiriam) March 5, 2015

We can't negotiate the Constitution.

— Miriam Santiago (@senmiriam) March 5, 2015

The timeframe of the BBL is irrelevant. You can immediately finish the bill, but it will go to the Supreme Court.

— Miriam Santiago (@senmiriam) March 5, 2015