The Bangsamoro government announced that it has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to re-include the Sulu province in the Bangsamoro Region, GMA News reported.
The Bangsamoro government filed its motion for leave to intervene to be a party to the case and to admit the attached motion for partial reconsideration last Tuesday, October 1 through the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office (BAGO).
“When the Court agrees with you that you are a party that is worthy to take part in the case, you can be allowed to file your succeeding court documents or pleadings,” BAGO Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Al-Amin Julkipli, quoted by GMA News, said.
This came after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, but also declared Sulu is not part of the region.
The high court said the decision is “immediately executory.”
As this developed, former Supreme Court Justice Adolfo Azcuna said the country would do well to follow the example set by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has banned politicians “within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity” from joining the first Bangsamoro Parliament.
The anti-political dynasty provision, along with the rule that bars candidates from leaving their political party six months before the elections, and the allotment of 30 percent of the 80 parliamentary seats to women, as well as the other provisions of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, were approved by the Commission on Elections on April 17, 2024.
“Let's follow the Bangsamoro law,” Azcuna said in a radio interview. He added that it is not impossible to pass anti-dynasty legislation in Congress.
Julkipli said that the SC did not say that it was “final and executory.”
“In the event that the Court reverses its ruling, deciding that Sulu’s inclusion is not unconstitutional, meaning it’s perfectly legal, that only means that the province does not need to be excluded from the autonomous region,” he said.
