By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri is insisting the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) despite a petition against its implementation in the Autonomous Region om Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan II has questioned the legality of Republic Act 11054 before the Supreme Court (SC), arguing, among others, the authority to abolish and replace the ARMM.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) “It’s unfortunate that the province of Sulu challenged the constitutionality of the BOL but its well within their rights to do so. I truly believe though that the Organic Law that we passed can stand the test of constitutionality after careful scrutiny done by the Senate’s best legal minds and with consultations done with eminent constitutionalists and former Chief Justices and Justices of the Supreme Court,” Zubiri, author and sponsor of the BOL in the Upper Chamber, said in a statement Monday. He said he would leave it to the SC to decide the BOL’s constitutionality, but hoped that the High Court will consider it as a solution to the armed conflicts that have long plagued the region. “We hope that our Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court can look at this Law as an out of the box solution for lasting peace in Mindanao within the framework of our Constitution,” he said. “As its principal author and sponsor, I will adhere to the wisdom of the High Court as the final arbiter on whether the BOL will pass the test of Constitutionality once and for all so we can proceed to a Just and Lasting peace for Mindanao and the Philippines,” he added. President Duterte signed last July the BOL, which is seen to provide lasting peace in Mindanao. It would replace the ARMM with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BAR). Tan was reported to have filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the SC as he challenged the constitutionality of the RA 11054. In his petition, the Sulu governor said the BOL violates the Constitution which authorized the creation of the ARMM through an organic act. He said Congress has “absolutely no authority to abolish ARMM” and that only through the amendment of the Constitution that the ARMM may be abolished. Tan also cited that the establishment of a parliamentary government in the proposed BAR a violation of a separation of powers. The law, he added, does not allow Sulu residents to exercise their right to suffrage with the automatic inclusion of the province to the BAR. With this, Tan also asked the SC to halt the conduct of the plebiscite. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started preparing for the plebiscite to ratify the BOL. It is scheduled on Jan. 21, 2019. Under the law, the BAR shall be comprised of the ARMM provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao; six municipalities in Lanao del Norte; 39 barangays in North Cotabato; Cotabato City in Maguindanao; and Isabela City in Basilan.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) “It’s unfortunate that the province of Sulu challenged the constitutionality of the BOL but its well within their rights to do so. I truly believe though that the Organic Law that we passed can stand the test of constitutionality after careful scrutiny done by the Senate’s best legal minds and with consultations done with eminent constitutionalists and former Chief Justices and Justices of the Supreme Court,” Zubiri, author and sponsor of the BOL in the Upper Chamber, said in a statement Monday. He said he would leave it to the SC to decide the BOL’s constitutionality, but hoped that the High Court will consider it as a solution to the armed conflicts that have long plagued the region. “We hope that our Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court can look at this Law as an out of the box solution for lasting peace in Mindanao within the framework of our Constitution,” he said. “As its principal author and sponsor, I will adhere to the wisdom of the High Court as the final arbiter on whether the BOL will pass the test of Constitutionality once and for all so we can proceed to a Just and Lasting peace for Mindanao and the Philippines,” he added. President Duterte signed last July the BOL, which is seen to provide lasting peace in Mindanao. It would replace the ARMM with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BAR). Tan was reported to have filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the SC as he challenged the constitutionality of the RA 11054. In his petition, the Sulu governor said the BOL violates the Constitution which authorized the creation of the ARMM through an organic act. He said Congress has “absolutely no authority to abolish ARMM” and that only through the amendment of the Constitution that the ARMM may be abolished. Tan also cited that the establishment of a parliamentary government in the proposed BAR a violation of a separation of powers. The law, he added, does not allow Sulu residents to exercise their right to suffrage with the automatic inclusion of the province to the BAR. With this, Tan also asked the SC to halt the conduct of the plebiscite. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started preparing for the plebiscite to ratify the BOL. It is scheduled on Jan. 21, 2019. Under the law, the BAR shall be comprised of the ARMM provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao; six municipalities in Lanao del Norte; 39 barangays in North Cotabato; Cotabato City in Maguindanao; and Isabela City in Basilan.