Wider support of a constitutional amendment to adopt the Bangamoro model will ensure its approval nationwide and also benefit all the other Filipino “bangsas” and regions.
It took 17 years of conflict and peace talks to culminate in the approval of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro peace on October 15, 2012 in a grand celebration in Malacañang. It took many months to draft the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law for the President’s submission to Congress early this year, but this has been again delayed.
 
Not in the limelight have been the likely constitutional issues to be raised before the Supreme Court during the congressional deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law to replace the organic act that had created the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
 
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles and Government Peace Panel Chair Miriam Coronel Ferrer have made repeated assurances to President Aquino that the drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law has ensured the constitutionality of the proposed law.  
 
Timely statement of former Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza re Constitutional Issues on MILF Peace Agreement. In his own words here it is. "The recent statements of President Aquino that there are no constitutional issues bugging the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) are reassuring—if correct and true.
 
“However, with due respect, I have serious reservations to the President's seemingly “cavalier assessment that  "All is well and OK.” Although I have not seen the draft of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law ( BBL), I have serious doubts about those presidential assurances simply because the MILF repeatedly and consistently rejected and refused to use the Philippine Constitution as one of the frameworks  during the whole course of the peace negotiations. As a matter of fact, even the mere mention of the Philippine Constitution in all of the agreements signed was rejected by the MILF all throughout.
 
“Go check the 12 signed agreements from 1997 until 2014 to  see what I mean. I know because I was there before. The MILF simply refused to be canalized by the Constitution, understandably because some provisions of our Basic Law could very well be the reason why there were historic injustices suffered by the Bangsamoro which they wanted redressed. Hence the presence of constitutional issues must be expected and should not be a surprise to all. So, let’s not gloss over it or just pretend it is not there.   Instead it should be dealt with decisively. That was the précise reason why the CAB, anticipating this, mandated this and expressly directed the Transition Commission to craft action plans for constitutional amendments, if the need shall rise.
 
“I may be wrong but a cursory reading of the CAB and its annexes points to the need for constitutional amendments. Unduly stretching the letter and spirit of our basic law to accommodate borderline issues is risky. Possible challenges of constitutionality before the Supreme Court should be avoided, as much as possible. There are already dissenters who are just merely “waiting in ambush” to have the CAB stricken down. Let’s deny them that pleasure. The failed MOA –AD during our time should be instructive.
 
“To ignore it is not prudent. We cannot—and should not—risk a repeat. “My unsolicited advice is to grab the bull by the horns and go for constitutional amendments, however long and arduous the road may be. A big reservoir of support for peace is overflowing its brim right now. We need to invest only a little more time and some amount of presidential goodwill—which is also reputedly overflowing—to make it happen. We cannot survive a second debacle.” End of statement of former Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza.
 
Wider support of a constitutional amendment to adopt the Bangamoro model will ensure its approval nationwide and also benefit all the other Filipino “bangsas” and regions. Why is this so potentially and actually?
 
As I have argued continually,the reality is that our Republic is made up of various bangsa. In fact, the Filipino nation is made up of several bangsa—each one a people forming distinctive ethno-linguistic-cultural communities and economic and social structures that have their own identities. They are proud of their regional identity as well as being Filipino and citizens of our Republic. Following the Bangsamoro identity, we can say that the Philippines has a Bangsa-Iloco, a Bangsa-Cordillera, a Bangsa-Tagalog, a Bangsa-Bikol, a Bangsa-Bisaya, a Bangsa-Ilongo, a Bangsa-Waray, and so on in Mindanao our second largest island and the forerunner of movements for federalism and even secession from the Republic. These ethno-linguistic-cultural communities form the 17 administrative regions in our highly centralized unitary system.
 
What is good for the Moros is good for all other Filipinos! The proposed Bangsamoro is a most welcome model for the fundamental reform of our highly centralized unitary system under which the various administrative regions of differing ethno-linguistic-cultural communities gravely suffer from the lack of powers, authority, and resources as poor dependents of the national government in "Imperial Manila." In genuinely autonomous regions, like Bangsamoro is to become, our regional and local governments will be able to develop their natural resources, raise local revenues, compete for investments, and empower the people to participate in democratic governance and development. We shall liberate ourselves from the shackles of our dysfunctional centralization, enhance our human security, and build peace with justice according to our national vision in our 1987 Constitution.
 
The Bangsamoro model is good for all our bangsa [or ethno-linguistic, cultural, and political communities]. So why not maximize and optimize the powers, functions, and resources of all the existing administrative regions? This would make Bangsamoro more acceptable nationwide, instead of its being challenged as “unconstitutional” because it favors our Moro sisters and brothers and in effect discriminates against most other Filipinos outside the Bangsamoro political entity.
 
As proposed here the fundamental institutional and structural reform nationwide will require a constitutional amendment to Article X. Local Government in our 1987 Constitution. If this succeeds the brilliant innovation brought about by many years of discrimination, injustice, violent struggle, sacrifice, and eventual accommodation will enhance nation-building, democratization, modernization, and economic development. In time it would also transform our devolved unitary system to a future Federal Republic of the Philippines.
 
President Aquino III is fully behind the proposed Bangsamoro autonomous region as part of his legacy—investing in it his presidential political capital. Therefore he should be prepared to change his obstinate resistance to fundamental institutional reform by Charter change.
 
This is not what he calls “tinkering with the 1987 Constitution,” also known by his partisans as “the Cory Constitution.” In fact, our 1987 Constitution is great in its noble vision of “building a just and humane society” and “a democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, and freedom, love, equality, and peace.”
 
However, our democracy suffers from the restoration of our old and defective “presidential government” and highly centralized unitary system that perpetuates our political oligarchy and family dynasties, our faulty electoral system and political parties, and our corrupt and unaccountable governance. 
 
Jose V. Abueva is Professor Emeritus of Political Science & Public Administration at the University of the Philippines, President of Kalayaan College in Quezon City and Director of its Institute of Federal Parliamentary Democracy. Comments are welcome at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit his blogsite here. This article originally appeared in the author's column in The Bohol Chronicle issue of June 29, 2014. 
 
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