Zubiri: Sulu has right to challenge BOL

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday said the province of Sulu has the right to question the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), but he expressed confidence that the legislation will survive the challenge before the Supreme Court (SC).

“It’s unfortunate that the province of Sulu challenged the constitutionality of the BOL but it’s well within their rights to do so,” Zubiri said in a statement.

The Senate leader, who was one of the lawmakers who filed bills on the creation of a new Bangsamoro Autonomous region, believes that Republic Act 11054 will stand the test of constitutionality, stressing that the Senate’s “best legal minds” have done “careful scrutiny” of the law with various consultations from legal luminaries.

“We hope that our Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court can look at this Law as an out of the box solution for lasting peace in Mindanao within the framework of our Constitution,” he added.

Zubiri nonetheless said he would “adhere to the wisdom of the High Court” as the final arbiter on whether the BOL is constitutional.

A newspaper report on Monday bared that the Sulu province, through its Governor Abdusakur Tan II, has challenged the legality and constitutionality of the BOL. /ee

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