SC declares final ruling on exclusion of Sulu province from BARMM

The Supreme Court (SC) declared final its Sept. 9, 2024 decision which ruled that the province of Sulu is not part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) because its residents rejected the ratification of the BARMM organic law during the plebiscite.

In a press conference, SC Spokesperson lawyer Camille Sue Mae L. Ting said that the SC, during its full court session on Tuesday, Nov. 26, denied the motions for partial reconsideration filed the BARMM, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), and other parties.

Ting said: “The decision is final and immediately executory. No further pleadings will be entertained.”

With the exclusion of Sulu, BARMM is now composed of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Tawi-Tawi.

In its decision, the SC declared the validity of Republic Act No. 11054, the BARMM organic law, that was enacted on July 27, 2018 to set up the BARMM as a political entity with corresponding basic government structure. 

The law provides that the creation of BARMM and the determination of its territorial jurisdiction should take effect upon the law’s ratification through the majority of votes cast during the plebiscite.

Despite the rejection of the law by its residents, Sulu province was included in BARMM prompting the filing of a petition before the SC.

During a press conference held when the decision was promulgated last Sept. 9, Ting said the SC ruled that the Bangsamoro Organic Law is constitutional because it does not make BARMM a separate state from the Philippines. 

Quoting from the SC’s decision, Ting said: “The law did not give it the power to enter into relations with other states, nor did it grant the BARMM its sovereignty. Matters of national defense and security, citizenship, foreign policy, and foreign trade remain with the national government.”

She explained that based on the decision, “the BARMM’s autonomy is limited to its internal governance, and the fact that it was granted greater autonomy than other territorial and political subdivisions does not imply separation from the national government.”

She also said: “The Court also upheld the parliamentary form of the Bangsamoro government. An autonomous region is not prohibited from prescribing a form of government that differs from the national government so long as it upholds democratic principles.”

“The Bangsamoro government is democratic, with the members of the Parliament elected by its people as representatives. In turn, the Bangsamoro Parliament elects a chief minister who shall exercise the executive powers of the Bangsamoro government,” she added.

But, she said: “The Court, however, declared unconstitutional the interpretation of the provision in the law directing the provinces and cities of ARMM to vote as one geographical unit as including provinces that rejected the law. This violates Article X, Section 18 of the Constitution, which states that only provinces, cities, and geographic areas voting favorably in the plebiscite shall be included in the autonomous region.”

Since Sulu rejected the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in the plebiscite, it was wrong to include the province in the BARMM, Ting added also referring to the SC decision.