THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT in Morolandia was rocked by a minor tremor. Its intensity reverberated from the shores of the Sulu Sea to the cramped evacuation shelters of Marawi City. One of its respected leaders questioned the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), a measure long marketed as the sum total of the decades-old aspirations of Moros before the Supreme Court (SC).
Abdusakur Tan II is one of the few Moro leaders held in high regard by his peers. His staying political dynastic power is a testament to a peculiar genre of leadership style reminiscent of obeisance accorded to a sultan. His popularity cuts across tribal differences. In fact, he almost scored an upset over the administration-anointed candidate for regional governor if not for the strong and well-oiled (translation: party fund) machinery of the immediate past administration.
Our friendship goes decades back and has weathered tribal differences and shifting party affiliation. He is one of the few principled Moro leaders I know who is uncompromising and puts his heart and mind on the principles he believes in.
His petition could hardly be understood by people who do not know him, especially those who are pro-BOL who see the measure as a way of freedom from the morass of political and social ails. It came on the heels of the announcement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that it will launch an information campaign in the run-up to the January plebiscite-ratification of the newly minted BOL. Not that they did not expect somebody filing it in the SC but to come from a Moro leader who commands their respect befuddles them. Not a few call him a spoiler which he is not.
I was not the least surprised that he filed the petition. He is every inch the man I know and understand where he is coming from. He is just being honest and consistent, having opposed strongly the same measure way back when it was first filed and relentlessly pushed by the past administration not unlike what President Digong is doing now.
Moros fear that Sakur is unwittingly playing into the hands of retrogressive oppositors and unrepentant bigots.
Ambassador Rafael Seguis, a fellow Mindanaoan, asked me about my take on the issue. I said I have figuratively burned the midnight oil meticulously subjecting the law to a surgeon-like diagnostic scalpel, studying and researching its constitutionality and almost tempted to discuss my position. However, lest I will be cited for contempt, I will shy away from discussing it, being a sub judice issue now that it is before the SC.
Political theorists view the Constitution as a living instrument and sometimes by the imperatives of zeitgeist has to yield to the sway and vicissitudes of time and space. It is not an instrument engraved in granite that is immutable. Being conceived as an aid in the preservation and well-being of society, it must not stymie the search for peace, else it will forfeit its raison d’être.
For whatever reason, other than legal, the petition by the patriarch of the Tan political dynasty betrays the deep internecine fractiousness of the Moros. The major tribes claim Maharlika blood in their veins and one cannot stand being subservient to another. The Maranao, Maguindanaoan and Tausug, being proud elite tribes of nobility, disagreement among them is sometimes unavoidable. The petition speaks volume of these tribal differences, peace be damned. And the Tausugs have served notice that they will exercise the “opt-out” privilege granted by the BOL which will exclude them from the coverage of the new Bangsamoro region.
In one fell swoop the Sakur petition has shattered the fragile détente that the Digong presidency has been working on between and among the Moro leaders hoping for a united support for the ratification of the BOL. The Sakur petition while subtly wrapped as a constitutional test, unmasked the hard truth that not all is well among its target beneficiaries, the Moros.
This poses a challenge to the MILF which is the prime mover and favored beneficiary of the law. They must factor the likes of Sakur in their blueprint preparation for ratification campaign. It’s a wake-up call that the gauntlet towards ratification is strewn with hazards and hurdles.
But it is a sad spectacle to see brother Moros fight over something many consider as the Holy Grail that they hope will pave the way for substantive self-rule, if not merdeka. (This opinion piece is published on The Daily Tribune.)
Link: http://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2018/11/11/bol-unconstitutional/?fbclid=IwAR3cihiRZLk4qr4BDXXNpcLbOJujZ3z9SogPkBtB4mq9Z8sYYefY7y5QM4g
Abdusakur Tan II is one of the few Moro leaders held in high regard by his peers. His staying political dynastic power is a testament to a peculiar genre of leadership style reminiscent of obeisance accorded to a sultan. His popularity cuts across tribal differences. In fact, he almost scored an upset over the administration-anointed candidate for regional governor if not for the strong and well-oiled (translation: party fund) machinery of the immediate past administration.
Our friendship goes decades back and has weathered tribal differences and shifting party affiliation. He is one of the few principled Moro leaders I know who is uncompromising and puts his heart and mind on the principles he believes in.
His petition could hardly be understood by people who do not know him, especially those who are pro-BOL who see the measure as a way of freedom from the morass of political and social ails. It came on the heels of the announcement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that it will launch an information campaign in the run-up to the January plebiscite-ratification of the newly minted BOL. Not that they did not expect somebody filing it in the SC but to come from a Moro leader who commands their respect befuddles them. Not a few call him a spoiler which he is not.
I was not the least surprised that he filed the petition. He is every inch the man I know and understand where he is coming from. He is just being honest and consistent, having opposed strongly the same measure way back when it was first filed and relentlessly pushed by the past administration not unlike what President Digong is doing now.
Moros fear that Sakur is unwittingly playing into the hands of retrogressive oppositors and unrepentant bigots.
Ambassador Rafael Seguis, a fellow Mindanaoan, asked me about my take on the issue. I said I have figuratively burned the midnight oil meticulously subjecting the law to a surgeon-like diagnostic scalpel, studying and researching its constitutionality and almost tempted to discuss my position. However, lest I will be cited for contempt, I will shy away from discussing it, being a sub judice issue now that it is before the SC.
Political theorists view the Constitution as a living instrument and sometimes by the imperatives of zeitgeist has to yield to the sway and vicissitudes of time and space. It is not an instrument engraved in granite that is immutable. Being conceived as an aid in the preservation and well-being of society, it must not stymie the search for peace, else it will forfeit its raison d’être.
For whatever reason, other than legal, the petition by the patriarch of the Tan political dynasty betrays the deep internecine fractiousness of the Moros. The major tribes claim Maharlika blood in their veins and one cannot stand being subservient to another. The Maranao, Maguindanaoan and Tausug, being proud elite tribes of nobility, disagreement among them is sometimes unavoidable. The petition speaks volume of these tribal differences, peace be damned. And the Tausugs have served notice that they will exercise the “opt-out” privilege granted by the BOL which will exclude them from the coverage of the new Bangsamoro region.
In one fell swoop the Sakur petition has shattered the fragile détente that the Digong presidency has been working on between and among the Moro leaders hoping for a united support for the ratification of the BOL. The Sakur petition while subtly wrapped as a constitutional test, unmasked the hard truth that not all is well among its target beneficiaries, the Moros.
This poses a challenge to the MILF which is the prime mover and favored beneficiary of the law. They must factor the likes of Sakur in their blueprint preparation for ratification campaign. It’s a wake-up call that the gauntlet towards ratification is strewn with hazards and hurdles.
But it is a sad spectacle to see brother Moros fight over something many consider as the Holy Grail that they hope will pave the way for substantive self-rule, if not merdeka. (This opinion piece is published on The Daily Tribune.)
Link: http://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2018/11/11/bol-unconstitutional/?fbclid=IwAR3cihiRZLk4qr4BDXXNpcLbOJujZ3z9SogPkBtB4mq9Z8sYYefY7y5QM4g
No comments:
Post a Comment