What is the new name of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law?

The House of Representatives ad hoc Bangsamoro committee has consolidated the amendments of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which will be up for voting next week.

According to the amended draft of the Bangsamoro basic bill released to the media on Wednesday, the proposed measure is no longer called BBL. It was renamed “Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.”

Unconstitutional provisions

The panel deleted from the draft the contentious provisions creating the Bangsamoro’s own Commission on Human Rights, Commission on Audit and Bangsamoro Civil Service Office.

Panel chair Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said these Bangsamoro bodies usurp the constitutional powers of its national counterparts.

Likewise deleted is the creation of a Bangsamoro Police Board, which was supposed to be the Bangsamoro’s version of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) which receives complaints on police personnel. It will instead be called the Regional Police Commission under the administration and control of the Napolcom.

Also deleted from the bill is the opt in provision which allows contiguous areas outside the Bangsamoro core territory to be part of the Bangsamoro territory upon a petition of at least 10 percent of the registered voters and approved by majority of qualified votes in a plebiscite. Lawmakers warned the provision may result in a creeping expansion.

Public order, safety

Another contentious provision is the original provision that grants the Bangsamoro government primary responsibility over public order and safety concerns in the region. Lawmakers said the national government should have the primary role according to the Constitution.

The amended draft says the Bangsamoro government has joint responsibility with the national government over public order and safety in the Bangsamoro.

Still under the public order and safety section, there will no longer be coordination protocols between the Bangsamoro and national government regarding the movement and deployment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the Bangsamoro region. This means the national government may deploy the military without coordinating with the Bangsamoro government, pursuant to the constitutional powers of the President as commander in chief.

The proposed bill seeks to create a more politically autonomous Bangsamoro region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It was a result of decades of peace talks that resulted in a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.