Bangsamoro bill now free from constitutional hurdles
ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—A Mindanao solon said the recently submitted proposed Bangsamoro basic law is now cleansed from contentious constitutional loopholes.
In an interview on Thursday, Anak Mindanao Representative Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman said she had looked through the bill and said the portions of the bill calling for an amendments to the Constitution were removed
Some solons have raised constitutional issues, claiming that the comprehensive peace pact that would create the bill seeks the amendment of pertinent provisions in the Charter instead of the pact being compliant with the charter.
“So far, we don’t see any constitutional hurdles. The bill states in its first provision that there will be adherence to the Constitution,” said Representative Hataman, the wife of former Representative and now Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Mujiv Hataman.
Representative Hataman urged her fellow lawmakers to unite in a common cause to pass the bill, which seeks to implement the peace pact signed between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“What we want for Congress to pass is an inclusive law… Let it be a democratic process. Let’s all take part. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us. We need to debate this properly so that we can thresh out the provisions,” Hataman said in Filipino.
Hataman said Congress should learn from the lessons of the law creating the ARMM, which was perceived as a failure because the Nur Misuari-led Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) continued its Muslim secessionist movement despite a peace deal.
Rogue members of the MNLF staged a failed siege in Zamboanga city last year, claiming to be sidelined in the peace agreement with the MILF.
The rebels attacked the city in an independence bid and said its 1996 peace pact with government was sidelined by the latest peace agreement with its Moro counterpart. The MILF is a breakaway group of the MNLF.
“Although sinasabing failed experiment ang ARMM (it is said that ARMM is a failed experiment), there is still a lot to learn from it,” Hataman said.
Once the bill is passed by Congress, the law must be ratified by a plebiscite for the creation of a Bangsamoro political entity to replace the ARMM.
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