The Supreme Court has directed the government to comment on the petition filed by the Sulu provincial government seeking to declare the Bangsamoro Organic Law as unconstitutional.
In a resolution, the SC ordered the executive and legislative departments to answer the petition filed by Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan II within the period of 10 from receipt of notice.
The order is directed to the respondents in the case—Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Interior and Local Government Officer-in-Charge Eduardo Año, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In his petition filed by Oct. 11, Tan through former elections chairman Sixto Brillantes asked the SC to declare the BOL of Republic Act 11054 as unconstitutional and also to issue an order enjoining the implementation of the law.
The petitioner argued that the law signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last July violates Section 18 and 19 of Article X of the 1987 Constitution, which authorized the enactment of only one Organic Act to establish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“Since ARMM is created by Constitutional fiat, Congress, by itself, has absolutely no authority to abolish ARMM. Only through an amendment of the Constitution may ARMM be abolished. This is so, because only the Constitution may create or abolish an autonomous region… Accordingly, when Congress, by enacting RA 11054, effectively abolished ARMM, and established BAR (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region) in its stead, Congress committed an unconstitutional act, an unwarranted infringement of Article X of the Constitution,” the petition stated.
Tan argued that the law violates the doctrine of separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
“The same provision of Bangsamoro Organic Law, also violates Section 18, Article X of the Constitution requiring that the Organic Act of an Autonomous Region shall, among others, define the basic structure of government for the region consisting of the executive department and legislative assembly, both of which shall be elective and representative of the constituent political units,” he said.
Petitioner added that Congress committed grave abuse of discretion in passing the BOL, which was the result of peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
With these arguments, he asked the SC to immediately issue a writ of prohibition to prevent the Commission on Elections from proceeding with the scheduled plebiscite in January 2019.
The BOL creates the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to include the ARMM, six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and 39 villages of Cotabato, and the chartered cities of Isabela and Cotabato subject to the approval of voters.
The BAR will be headed by a chief minister and two deputy ministers. The parliament will be composed of political party representatives, parliamentary district representatives, sectoral representatives, and non-Moro indigenous peoples and settler communities.
The parliament can enact its own laws and its members will have a term of three years and can enjoy a maximum of three consecutive terms.
Responding to the petition, a Palace official expressed confidence that the BOL can survive the “constitutionality test” before the Supreme court.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said every citizen has the right to question the constitutionality of the BOL.
“Every citizen is free to resort to judicial processes to question the constitutionality of laws. The case filed BOL is not an exception,” Dureza said in a statement Monday.
He said the Bangsamoro Transition Commission drafted the BOL in compliance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to adhere with all the past agreements in step with constitutional and legal reforms.
He, however, expressed optimism that the new legislation can cope with the critics’ challenge.
“I am confident that the BOL can withstand the constitutionality test. The Senate, the House, and their legal minds painstakingly worked on the law. They scrutinized its fine points and fine-tuned them, taking into account the landmark decisions of the Supreme Court and drew from the lessons of the past,” said Dureza.
He added that even the legal minds in the Office of the President put thought into the law before Duterte signed it.
“I am confident this petition will not stop on its tracks a new beginning for the Bangsamoro. If at all, the most this latest challenge on the new law is to affirm its constitutionality with finality for all Bangsamoro and all citizens to benefit from,” Dureza said.
“Ultimately, we leave the final determination entirely in the hands of the Supreme Court,” he added.