Palace, Congress ask SC to dismiss petitions vs BOL

January 6, 2019

Malacanang and Congress have asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition assailing the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

In a 118-page comment given last Thursday, Palace and both Houses of Congress, through the Office of the Solicitor General asked the SC to junk the petition filed last October by the Sulu provincial government, led by Gov. Abdusakur Tan II, seeking to strike down the BOL or Republic Act 11054 and stop its implementation.

Solicitor General Jose Calida Jr said the BOL does not violate Section 18, Article X of the 1987 Constitution, which authorized one Organic Act to establish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Calida said it is not true the BOL should have the approval of Sulu and other provinces under the ARMM though majority voting as separate units, saying this is not required by the Constitution.

"The (separate) voting requirement provided in Section 18, Article X of the 1987 Constitution applies only to the creation of an autonomous region, not to the amendment of the law, nor to the expansion of its territorial jurisdiction," the comment stated.

Calida said the law which signed in July 2018, which created a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR), was not a creation of a new autonomous region as described in the Constitution, but rather an amendment of the organic act and expansion of the territorial jurisdiction of ARMM.

"When Congress decides to expand the territory of the autonomous region, the requirement does not apply to the subsisting provinces, cities of geographical areas of the autonomous region, but only to those provinces, cities or geographical areas proposed by Congress to be added therein. A majority of the votes in all constituent units put together is sufficient for those provinces, cities or geographical areas already part of the autonomous region," the executive and legislative departments insisted.

Calida emphasized that the expansion of ARMM does not require an amendment of the Constitution since Congress only needed to amend or repeal the Organic Act on ARMM.

"Congress retains the plenary power to amend and repeal the Organic Act that created the ARMM. The power to amend and repeal laws is included in the general and express grant of legislative power under Section 1, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution," the chief state lawyer pointed out.

"The creation of an autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao is through an organic law, categorized as a statute passed by Congress. As a statute, the organic law may be amended or repealed by Congress pursuant to its general legislative power," he said.

Calida said the Supreme Court has no power to review the BOL because the issues raised by petitioner involved political questions.

"The issues raised in the present petition are purely political questions that this Honorable Court is not permitted by the 1987 Constitution to examine," he stressed.

Calida also argued that the BOL complied with the requirement for the governmental setup for an autonomous region under the said constitutional provision.

He also rebutted petitioner's assertion that the law erased the identity of indigenous cultural minorities in Sulu by automatically including it in the BAR without their knowledge and consent and also against their will and in violation of their rights.

The solicitor general defended the legality of Section 2, Article XVI of R.A. 11054, which provides for the creation of a Bangsamoro Transition Authority that shall serve as the interim government in the BAR during the transition period from the ratification of the BOL up to the qualification of the elected chief minister.

"The Constitution allows Congress to constitute a body that will implement the Bangsamoro Organic Law during the transition period. Furthermore, the selection of the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) as the leading entity of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority does mot violate the equal protection clause," he explained.

Calida insisted that the SC cannot grant the plea for issuance of temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction because the allegations raised by petitioner were speculative and that the petitioner also "failed to show that it will suffer grave and irreparable injury if injunctive relief is not issued."rhe Philippine Constitutional Association filed a similar petition against the BOL last month. The Court has consolidated both petitions.

The BOL expands the ARMM - composed of Sulu, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan (except Isabela City) - to include six towns of Lanao del Norte and 39 barangays of Cotabato, and the chartered cities of Isabela and Cotabato subject to the approval of voters.

The Commission on Elections has set the plebiscite on Jan. 21 for the ratification of the BOL. DMS