Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri presented to the Senate on February 28, 2018 Senate Bill No. 1717 or the proposed "Bangsamoro Basic Law" that seeks to establish the Bangsamoro political entity in lieu of the ARMM. Excerpted from Senator Zubiri's sponsorship speech, here are some of the salient features of the proposed law.

 

Territory

 

The bill proposes to cover what remains of the traditional homeland of the Bangsamoro, which overtime has lost much of their territory due to colonization and some policies that have deprived them of their lands and marginalized them such as the earlier land registration acts that did not provide them opportunity to register their lands or settlement programs that offered their lands to settlers from Luzon and the Visayas. This is part of the historical injustice that the Bill proposes to address.

 

The core territory includes the present territory of the ARMM, six municipalities in Lanao del Norte, cities of Cotabato and Isabela, 39 barangays in North Cotabato, and contiguous areas that may petition to join the Bangsamoro. Note that the six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and the 39 barangays in North Cotabato already voted yes in the 2001 plebiscite for inclusion in the ARMM. However, due to a technical issue in the manner by which the plebiscite question was designed and the manner of appreciation of the majority of votes, they were not included as part of the ARMM as it then required them to obtain a double majority.

 

The Bill proposes to address this challenge by following the suggestion of Justice Adolf Azcuna during the hearing, by constituting these six municipalities in Lanao del Norte and 39 barangays in North Cotabato into geographic areas, so that we can give life to the provision of the 1987 Constitution on autonomy that allows municipalities and geographic areas to join the autonomous region. This too, will give life not only to the peace agreement we signed with the MILF but also to the MNLF.

 

Powers of Government

 

Reserved powers are matters over which authority and jurisdiction are retained by the Central Government. The list of reserved powers would pertain to powers that are the attribute of a sovereign country and are important in maintaining its independence and ability to relate to other countries such as foreign policy, defense, citizenship and others.

 

The concurrent powers are powers shared by the Central Government and the Bangsamoro Government within the Bangsamoro. The Basic Law enumerates 14 powers exercised by both the Central Government and the Bangsamoro Government. Constitutional Offices in the Bangsamoro shall continue to remain under the direct control and supervision of its National Head Office.

 

To guard against allegations of rampant corruption in the ARMM this Basic Law is providing that aside from the regional office of the Commission on Audit in the Bangsamoro, the Bangsamoro Government shall also create a Bangsamoro Auditing Office (BAO) which shall conduct pre-audit and post-audit.

 

On the other hand, the exclusive powers that are granted the Bangsamoro are powers essential to deliver services to its people and enable them to develop as communities such as agriculture, public administration, waste management, etc. It is a truism that these matters are best left to the Bangsamoro government which is closest to the ground.

 

Intergovernmental Relations Mechanism/Bodies

 

These bodies are provided to ensure coordination and cooperation between the Central Government and Bangsamoro Government on matters such as environment, energy, fiscal and natural resources among others. These bodies are created as mechanisms to allow a degree of synchronization while allowing a reasonable latitude of discretion for the Bangsamoro government to exercise its power in the spirit of the autonomy granted them. In a more context-specific case for the Bangsamoro and the MILF, these mechanisms will allow them to transition in their assertion of their legitimate grievances from an armed struggle to a more democratic and peaceful means. In a way the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) mechanism is the venue for ventilating their issues and provide them a platform to continue their assertion and advocacy, but this time around, no longer by the power of the guns but by the power of the pen.

 

Bangsamoro Government

 

The Bangsamoro Government will allow them self-governance that will put an end to their feeling of alienation which for decades have fueled their rebellion. This will be a government of their own, a Parliamentary government with the Chief minister as head of government and supported by a cabinet. The Parliamentary System of government is closer to their tradition as the Parliament mirrors their traditional leadership such as the Ruma Bichara (Council) of the Sultanate of Sulu or the Atas (Council) Bichara of the Sultanate of Maguindanao.

 

The Parliamentary System with this innovative features of party representation, district representation, and reserved seats and sectoral representation ensures that no one is left behind. Everyone will have a voice in the Parliament. The party representation, constituting 50 percent of the Parliament will infuse new dynamics and hope in the Bangsamoro Government for the eventual triumph of genuinely principled parties. Candidates will now be voted on the basis of party platforms and programs and no longer based on popular personalities. The reserved seats and sectoral representation will ensure that marginalized sectors and other identities will have a voice in the Parliament.

 

An innovation included in this Bill is a provision that penalizes the unprincipled transfer from one party to another which is a problem in this country. This Bill proposes that if Member of the Parliament, after having been elected under the proportional representation system, transfers to another during his incumbency, he will forfeit his seat. Section 18, Art VII.

 

An anti-dynasty provision in the Parliament has also been included under section 15, Art VII which provided that no party representative should be related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to a district representative or another party representative in the same parliament.

 

Bangsamoro Justice System

 

The Bangsamoro Justice System allows them to implement the civil and commercial and minor criminal aspects of the Shariah law if the parties are Muslims or where parties have voluntarily submitted to the jurisdiction of the Shariah court. Also, regular courts will continue to function and allow for the other indigenous peoples in the region to continue to practice their customary laws. The justice system allows them to practice their religions and recognize the uniqueness of their culture and identity while maintaining the control and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over the Shariah Court system.

 

Public Order and Safety

 

On Public Order. The Bangsamoro Police remains a part of the PNP. The Bill operationalizes Section 21, Article 10 of the Constitution that gives local authorities the ability to manage peace and order.

 

Fiscal Autonomy

 

On Fiscal autonomy. The Bill will give meaning to the concept of true fiscal autonomy by providing them sufficient freedom to determine their priorities and how best to spend their funds with the least intervention from the central government. The block Grant will be 6 percent of the net collections both of the BIR and the Bureau of Customs. This will be automatically appropriated and regularly released to the Bangsamoro akin to the system adopted for the IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) of the LGUs (Local Government Units). This measure addresses the gap in the ARMM Autonomy Act that treated the ARMM only as a national government agency and even less autonomous than ordinary LGUs.

 

To further strengthen their fiscal autonomy, the Bill proposes to provide a share to the Bangsamoro in the taxes collected in the region as well as the revenue derived from exploration development and utilization of natural resources found therein. For taxes the sharing is at 75-25 in favor of the Bangsamoro and for fossil fuels the same will be divided equally. This will put a stop to their long standing grievance that we have been exploiting their resources such as Lake Lanao for power generation but that they have been deprived of the benefits that are derived from the exploitation of the resources found in their area.

 

Special Development Fund

 

The SDF of 100 Billion is designed to rehabilitate damaged infrastructure in the region as a result of decades of war. The fund will be released in 10 equal installments for a period of 10 years and will be utilized based on Development Plan crafted by them. This fund will allow them also to catch up with the rest of the country.

 

Plebiscite

 

The plebiscite provisions in the Bill effects the Constitutional mandate to secure the consent of the governed and ratifies the autonomy law for the Bangsamoro. This is not an ordinary law and the Constitution has set the parameters for its enactment different from ordinary legislation where after its passage in Congress, the signature of the President is sufficient to make it into a law. This Bill proposes that the Plebiscite be held in the following areas:

The ARMM

The 6 municipalities in Lanao del Norte

The 39 barangays in North Cotabato

Contiguous areas who may petition for inclusion in the Bangsamoro

 

To give full meaning to the constitutional provision for the creation of the autonomous region and to honor our commitment to the peace agreements we signed, we have designed the plebiscite to ensure the preservation of the gains of autonomy by allowing the ARMM, as a geographic area, to vote as one unit. For the six municipalities and to effect the mandate of the constitution to allow municipalities and geographic areas to join the autonomy, the determination of majority will be at the level of the municipalities. This is also true with respect to the geographic area constituting the 39 Barangays in North Cotabato.

 

For contiguous areas, we have raised the number of petitioners to 20 percent of the registered voters and also to allow them only to join if their mother unit allows them to do so. This is of course is without prejudice for Congress to declare them as geographic units, in which case they may subsequently join as such local government units where the determination of majority will only be at the level of their concerned local government units.

 

To put a closure to the GPH-MNLF process which has already undergone a Tripartite Review with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, we have proposed a subsequent plebiscite but only on three (3) occasions for a period of 15 years. This process will finally shift the struggle of our brothers from an armed revolutionary struggle to one of democratic and peaceful as they need not fight with guns as there is an avenue for them to join their brothers in the autonomy thru this periodic plebiscite. Our hope is that this provision will finally put a closure to our peace process with the MNLF and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in the Bangsamoro and in the whole country as well.

 

Bangsamoro Transition Authority

 

The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will be the interim government and allows the MILF to transition from a rebel organization into governance through a peaceful democratic process. While the BTA will be led by the MILF, other sectors in the Bangsamoro will be represented. The transition period under the Bill will be for three years which will be a sufficient time to stabilize the region and hopefully kick start development and reforms.