OZAMIZ CITY—The version of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) dished out by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week could strengthen dynastic rule in the region and defeat efforts to reform its political dynamics.
This is the main observation of the Mindanao Civil Society Organizations Platform for Peace (MCSOPP) to Senate Bill (SB) 2894, the substitute to SB 2408 which contained the original draft of the measure submitted to Congress.
SB 2894 was produced by Marcos, who chairs the committee on local governments which, in turn, is the lead Senate body that considered the measure.
The draft BBL seeks to establish a new autonomous entity that replaces and have greater powers than the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in a bid to address the Moro people’s clamor for meaningful self-governance and end a major basis for the decades-long rebellion.
Radical change
In a paper detailing its comments on SB 2894, the MCSOPP noted the “radical change in the allocation of seats in the Bangsamoro parliament” which is expected to “alter the intended design of political administration and governance in the Bangsamoro.”
It cited Article VII, which provides for the structure and form of the Bangsamoro government.
The Bangsamoro parliament is envisioned to be a body composed of 60 members. In the Marcos version, 40 of them should be representatives of every parliamentary district, eight from parties who win seats through a system of proportional representation, and 12 from sectors given reserved seats.
“The original BBL draft gave premium on party representation by allocating 50 percent of parliament seats for it, as against district representation which is given only 40 percent,” the MCSOPP noted.
“District seats are prone to local dynastic capture hence allocating the bulk of parliament seats for this ensures the perpetuation of elite control of the Bangsamoro government. In SB 2894, district representatives will comprise two-thirds of total parliament seats,” said Samsodin Amella, chair of Mindanao Peoples Caucus.
“The system of proportional representation could provide a political space for platform-based parties to thrive. And platform-based parties are what we need for good governance not just in the Bangsamoro but throughout the country,” Amella said.
“If made available, such space should be an opening for Moro revolutionary groups to participate in the political and governance processes of the region,” MCSOPP spokesperson Candido Aparece explained.
Aparece recalled that the absence of enough political space had hindered the effective transition of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) from a revolutionary to a democratic political machine even after signing the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the government in 1996.
“Even as many MNLF leaders became politicians and won elective seats, many also found it hard to sail their ideals through the electoral exercise when confronted with entrenched local dynasties,” Aparece said.
He noted that MNLF leaders were able to hold the reins of the ARMM from 1996 to 2005 largely because “they were ordained” by the national leadership.
Following the forging of the FPA, then President Fidel Ramos engineered the victory of MNLF founding chair Nur Misuari in the 1996 regional polls by making sure there will be no other candidate for ARMM governor.
During the watch of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the administration party backed and successfully installed another MNLF leader, Parouk Hussin, for the ARMM top post.
Nondissolution
Another major amendment introduced by Marcos into the proposed BBL is the nondissolution of the Bangsamoro parliament within the elective term of its members.
In the original draft, the parliament can be dissolved through a vote of no confidence on the so-called government of the day. Such vote will then trigger a new round of parliamentary elections, and those elected will have to choose a new chief minister to run the government.
The no-confidence vote should account for two-thirds of the entire parliament, or 40 members.
In Marcos’ version, the vote will result to the chief minister being removed from office, returning to his or her seat in parliament. The rest of the government officials will continue to function until a new chief minister is chosen and has appointed a new set of Cabinet members.
This was the same recommendation offered by the Citizen’s Peace Council that President Aquino organized to do an independent due diligence on the BBL draft.