DAVAO CITY — The House of Representatives will resume deliberations on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) next month without waiting for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the petitions filed by the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) and a former representative “to declare as unconstitutional and void” the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL, said.
“We will continue deliberations in August,” Rodriguez told MindaNews in a text message Sunday afternoon, adding “there is no TRO (temporary restraining order) issued by the Supreme Court.”
The Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the FAB on October 15, 2012 and the CAB on March 27, 2014.
Both parties agreed under the FAB that the status quo was not acceptable and that they would work for the creation of a new autonomous political entity called the Bangsamoro, that would replace what is now the 25-year old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). President Benigno Simeon Aquino III had earlier dubbed the ARMM a “failed experiment.”
The Philconsa, which also sought the issuance of a TRO and/or writ of preliminary injunction, is being represented in the petition by its President, Lakas Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, former Senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad, Arcbhishops Ramon Arguelles of Lipa and Romulo dela Cruz of Zamboanga, Davao City’s Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla, and Norberto Gonzales, who held several positions in the Arroyo administration, including Defense Secretary and National Security Adviser.
The Philconsa filed its petition on June 19, the same day former Lakas Rep. Jacinto Paras of Negros Occidental also filed a similar petition. The Philconsa included former GPH peace panel chair Marvic Leonen, now Supreme Court Associate Justice, as among the respondents. Leonen was chair when the FAB was signed.
The other respondents in the Philconsa petition are GPH peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.
The Paras petition, on the other hand, has Ferrer, GPH peace panel members Senen Bacani, Yasmin Busran-Lao and Mehol Sadain, as well as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles, as respondents. (MindaNews)
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