Maguindanao to seek dismissal of SC petitions vs Bangsamoro law

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu. File photo from AP

BULUAN, MAGUINDANAO — Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu is set to file a motion to dismiss the petitions before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which his constituents resoundingly favored during the plebiscite on January 21.

“I will file the petition on Monday (in defense of the BOL),” he said in a text message on Wednesday evening.

According to Mangudadatu, the BOL would usher in a “new era of just and lasting peace that will trigger the entry of new investments in the region to help lift the people from the bondage of poverty.”

The Provincial Peace and Order Council, chaired by Mangudadatu, passed a resolution Wednesday authorizing Mangudadatu to initiate the dismissal of the petitions against the BOL, the centerpiece of the final peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed in 2014 after four decades of conflict that killed at over 120,000 persons, including civilians.

Except for Sulu, the rest of the provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)–Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi–ratified the BOL, which will pave the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to replace the ARMM.

Maguindanao resoundingly favored the ratification of the BOL, voting 608,846 “yes” and only 9,096 against during the plebiscite conducted peacefully in the province.

“The electorate of Maguindanao overwhelmingly spoke in favor of ratifying the passage of Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, popularly called BOL, with the patent optimism that this pivotal measure will, once and for all, put a halt to the decades-old conflict in the south,” the PPOC resolution said.

“The council is of the view that pushing for the implementation of the new law is a must if only to pave the way for one more attempt towards liberating our people from the bondage of conflict, ignorance, poverty, and regression,” it stressed.

Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan II and the Philippine Constitutional Association had filed separate petitions before the high tribunal questioning the constitutionality of the BOL.

Another plebiscite is set on February 6 for areas in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato that petitioned for inclusion in the BARMM.

Preparations were underway for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim body that will govern the new Bangsamoro region until the first set of elected officials are chosen in the 2022 regular elections.

Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, Jr., MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman met in Cotabato City Wednesday morning to discuss the transition from ARMM to BARMM.

“The meeting was very fruitful. Everybody is in high spirits to ensure the smooth and seamless transition from ARMM to BARMM,” Galvez said in a statement.

The interim BARMM government will be composed of the 80-member BTA, which is expected to be appointed by President Duterte in the coming weeks.

Incumbent ARMM officials will also be part of the said transition government, until their terms expire on June 30 this year.

The MILF’s central committee earlier endorsed Murad to become the chief minister of the Bangsamoro government./lzb