MOVES in the House of Representatives to fix the date of the Parliamentary Elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are facing constitutional issues, according to lawyer-members of the Bangsamoro Parliament.
Parliamentary Naguib Sinarimbo, chairman of the Local Governments Committee of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament, told the House Committee on Muslim Affairs on Tuesday that the legislation by Congress fixing the date of the BARMM elections “will have to deal with a fix term as provided for both in the Bangsamoro Organic Law and in the Constitution.”
“There are two constitutional issues that we will have to deal with for this legislation. And as earlier outlined, we will have to deal with a fixed term as provided for both in the Organic Law and in the Constitution. The second is the issue of synchronization as held in the Abas-Kida case, citing the Transitory Provision of the 1987 Constitution,” Sinarimbo told the House committee chaired by Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong.
Sinarimbo cited two options by which to address these issues.
One is to deal with a contention as to which should be prioritized in terms of addressing the constitutional challenge.
“And I think, (as we heard it from) the suggestion of the Chair of the Commission (on Elections), there is more valid argument to address the issue of a fixed term by desynchronizing it, and in effect, therefore, we are giving preference to a fixed term rather than the constitutional issue of synchronization,” Sinarimbo stressed.
Sinarimbo said as Congress sets the holding of the first Parliamentary elections in BARMM this year, the legislators had to make sure that the term of office would be three years; and that the next elections will be in 2029.
The second option, Sinarimbo said, was enunciated by BTA Parliament Deputy Speaker Ishak Mastura.
Mastura, a lawyer, said Congress would be addressing both issues by considering the facts he raised in the House Committee hearing:
“We solve the issue of not shortening the term, and at the same time we solve the issue of synchronization of the elections, by holding the first election this year and by holding the next elections in 2031 (and every three years thereafter),” Mastura.
Sinarimbo said the fixed term clause is provided in the Constitution, and that the challenge would be the Supreme Court jurisprudence in the Abas-Kida Case that calls for synchronized elections.
Asked by Rep Alonto Adiong to share his views, Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia said if he had to argue a case in the Supreme Court, he would have to contend with the holding of elections this year, notwithstanding constitutional clause on the synchronization of elections which, he said, was only provided under the Transitory Provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
