The following are sound bites from the national forum on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) organized by IAG with UNICEF in Makati City on Sept. 24, 2014. The complete piece will be published in an upcoming special report.

Previously

Why asymmetry should not be confused with independence?

What happens to 35,000 ARMM employees when transition to Bangsamoro begins?

Is Bangsamoro identity inclusive?  

The external security of the Bangsamoro region remains a reserved power of the government while internal security, which is law and order, is an exclusive function of the Bangsamoro government.

Our panel in Makati set aside counterinsurgency in the not-so-clear area.

IAG Executive Director Benedicto Bacani raised some practical questions to help us imagine this setup: Who will be running after the Abu Sayyaf and the BIFF? Will it be the Bangsamoro Police or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)? Who has the primary responsibility?

MILF's Abhoud Lingga admitted that issues like these are still in the gray area right now. “Is this law enforcement? Is this about national security? These have to be discussed by the Bangsamoro government and the central government. Addressing this problem cannot be left to the central government or to the Bangsamoro government alone. There should be cooperation. It’s not something that is separate.”

What is clear in the draft BBL is the operational control of the Bangsamoro Police being bestowed to the chief minister and the administrative control to the Bangsamoro police board, the office that will exercise in the Bangsamoro the power of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM).

The BBL enumerates the powers of the chief minister over the Bangsamoro Police, which include operational control and supervision and the selection of its head. It will effect an appointment process such that Police Officer 1 to Senior Police Officer IV will be appointed by the head of the Bangsamoro Police; the Inspector to Superintendent by the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), as recommended by the head of the Bangsamoro Police and the chief minister; and the Senior Superintendent and ranks above by the president upon recommendation of the PNP chief and endorsement by the chief minister. The complete provision is in Article XI, Section 10 of the BBL.

GPH's Iona Jalijali believes that the Bangsamoro Police as envisioned in the draft BBL is well within constitutional parameters for two reasons. First, the BBL explicitly states that the Bangsamoro Police will be part of the PNP. Second, the Bangsamoro police board that will be created shall be part of the NAPOLCOM.

This basically means that law enforcement and public order will still be the job of the PNP, peace advocate and lawyer Suharto Ambolodto added. He likened the Bangsamoro Police to the CIDG and the highway patrol group, specialized units of the PNP, that although separate units, are still part of one police force. The Bangsamoro Police is one that is also specialized but it just so happened that it is territorial in character, he said. 

So who would run after the Abu Sayyaf and BIFF?

“The same people who are running after them now. The only thing added by the BBL, is that the Bangsamoro government will now be accountable. It now shares the burden and the accountability of maintaining public order and safety."

More candid questions on the BBL