Pangasinan 5th District Representative Kimi Cojuangco tweeted yesterday what she said is a “preview of unconstitutional portions of the BBL,” which Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the House ad hoc committee on the BBL, has listed. The first eight provisions are being considered to be removed for being “unconstitutional”; the ninth for being “unacceptable” to member lawmakers from Mindanao because it would "allow a creeping expansion of the Bangsamoro region". The House ad hoc committee on the BBL is set to resume its deliberations on the proposed bill on April 20.

 

1. Creation of separate Commission on Audit (COA);

 

2. Creation of separate Commission on Elections (COMELEC);

 

3. Creation of separate Civil Service Commission (CSC);

 

4. Creation of separate Commission on Human Rights (CHR);

 

5. Creation of separate Office of the Ombudsman;

 

Reason:

These provisions are unconstitutional because Congress cannot pass a law that will interfere with the functions and operations of independent constitutional commissions like COA, COMELEC, and the Office of the Ombudsman. The envisioned Bangsamoro region cannot have its own audit agency or election body. The Constitution provides that we have only one COA, one COMELEC, whose jurisdiction is national in scope.

 

6. The sections which require the President to coordinate military operations with the chief minister of the Bangsamoro region;

 

7. The sections which empower the chief minister to have control and supervision over police forces in the region;

 

Reason: The coordination requirement would diminish the power of the presidency. While giving the chief minister authority over policemen in the Bangsamoro region would run counter to the constitutional provision that there should be a national police force that is civilian in character and under the control of the National Police Commission.

 

8. The parliamentary setup in the envisioned new Bangsamoro regional government;

 

Reason: Having a parliamentary structure in Bangsamoro while we have a national presidential system of government is not against the Constitution. Article X of the Constitution gives Congress the power to prescribe a different political structure best suited for autonomy.

 

But some resource persons invited by the committee to its hearing have asserted that having a regional political structure different from the national presidential system would go against the Constitution.

 

9. The provision authorizing the conduct of a plebiscite in any territory contiguous to the Bangsamoro region where 10% of residents want to join the autonomous regional government.

 

Reason: This is not acceptable to Mindanao lawmakers since it will allow a creeping expansion of the Bangsamoro region.