Bangsamoro basic law seen to open PH political system to more decentralization

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – A former city mayor here has urged members of the House of Representatives’ ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law to consider the proposed measure “in the larger context of reforming the political system in the country.”

Former mayor Franklin Quijano told the members of the committee Friday that the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law would set the stage for serious discussions on how best to reform the country’s political system amid renewed stirrings for greater decentralization of power to the regions and localities.

On Friday, the committee held three simultaneous public hearings in Iligan and Pagadian cities, and Tubod, Lanao del Norte.

Quijano said the Basic Law, by itself, could already be a model for what an autonomy charter for the Cordilleras could be.

Written based on the peace accord between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Basic Law has principally outlined the sharing of wealth and political power between the central and regional governments.

“That is a very good recipe to address the longing of other regions like Bicol and those in the Visayas to also have greater power to manage their development affairs,” Quijano noted.

“Lacking that dispersion of political and economic power, we continue to see the over-centralization of political and economic opportunities at the national center,” he added.

But under the Constitution, only the Moro and Cordillera peoples are given the opportunity to have autonomous governments.

That for the Cordillera was never set up as only the province of Ifugao, then, voted for its proposed charter. And the Supreme Court has ruled that an autonomous region should consist of at least two provinces.

“We are setting a precedent with the Basic Law. This setup, which can be possible only for the Bangsamoro and Cordillera, may also be writ large throughout the country through a federal structure,” Quijano proposed.

Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal, co-vice-chair of the ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, welcomed Quijano’s proposal although he noted that reforming the politico-administrative structure of the country towards federalism would require an amendment to the Constitution.