'Postponing BARMM polls up to residents in plebiscite'
SENATOR JUAN Miguel Zubiri has proposed to allot seats for members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) if the proposed extension of the transition period of the peace process is approved, according to a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).
The PCIJ, which is following plenary debates on the proposed bills, said
Senate Bill 2214 entered the period of interpellations on May 24 and was
tackled briefly by the senators.
Senator Francis Tolentino, head of the Senate local government
panel and sponsor of the committee report, recognized the role of MNLF in the
peace process in Mindanao and did not oppose the proposal.
Tolentino said the inclusion of the MNLF in the BTA would be
“without prejudice” to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose leaders
occupy the top positions in the BTA.
Sectoral groups such as indigenous peoples, women, the youth,
traditional leaders, and settler communities will also retain their parliament
seats under the proposal, he said.
The BARMM is the result of 17 years of negotiations between the MILF, a
breakaway group of the MNLF headed by Nur Misuari, and the national government.
Zubiri said the MILF would retain its current allotment of 41 parliament
seats. The same will be true for the national government, which has 39
seats.
The proposal to allot seats to each congressional district in BARMM
would mean more representation for the provinces of Lanao del Sur,
Maguindanao, and Sulu, which would have six representatives to the BTA. Basilan
and Tawi-Tawi will each have three.
Zubiri said there were officials who also suggested allotting one seat
each to the cities of Marawi, Cotabato, and Lamitan, and another to North
Cotabato province, and even the Sama people of Tawi-Tawi have appealed for
representation.
The BARMM leadership asked Congress to postpone the first regular
elections next year to select the members of the regional parliament and extend
the transition period of the peace process by another three years.
The Commission on Elections asked Congress to decide on the proposal by
July to give poll officials enough time to prepare if the BARMM elections would
push through.
Protests
In February this year, the influential Sultans of Sulu protested the proposed extension of the interim Bangsamoro government, and called on Muslims in the country and President Rodrigo Duterte and Congress to disallow all attempts and maneuver to extend the tenure of those trying to hold on power.
Sultans Muizuddin Bahjin and Vennizar Julkarnain said that aspiring members of the Bangsamoro parliament should be compelled to submit themselves before the true will of the people to legitimize their mandate through the electoral process as set and scheduled by the Constitution.
BARMM Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim and his allies in the BTA are pushing and lobbying for the extension of the interim government. It would also extend Ebrahim’s term and BTA members and those holding key positions in the regional government.
Ebrahim, also chieftain of the former rebel group MILF, said he is pushing for the extension of the interim government based on the recommendation of the so-called peace advocacy group Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus following its “rapid midterm review” on the Bangsamoro transition period. Ebrahim also met several times with Duterte to lobby for the proposed extension.
Manifesto
Both Sultans also issued a signed manifesto on February 13 enumerating the reasons for their opposition to the extension. A copy of the manifesto was seen by the Mindanao Examiner and it reads: “Royal House of Patikul, Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, after having gone through series of consultation to gauge and register the pulse of our Ra’ayats viz-avis the performance of the BTA, conscious of the fact that Sulu registered a majority NO votes in a (2019) plebiscite to ratify the BOL forming the so-called Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, hereby make a stand arrived at in a consensus based on common observations.”
It listed the following issues with BARMM and BTA: “That since its inception, the BTA which constitutes the so-called Bangsamoro Parliament and Regional Government have been markedly slow in the delivery of government services as mandated to Sulu, and for almost 2 years, all it delivered were the retrenchment and separation from services of regional employees causing a great distraught to the affected and their families, and rather spent long working hours if only to deliberate and enact codes and bills while the administration of component localities, in particular, the insular provinces, were left to fend for themselves.”
“That, BARMM’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Sulu, thus far, have been unsubstantial and wanting; That, gauging from the general observation on the operation and performance of the BTA, it can be construed as deliberate delaying maneuver to justify the plan they seemingly hatched from the very star, that is, to ask for an extension, accordingly for as long as 7 years.”
And “That, to allow the extension of the transition (period) would be tantamount to escape judgment by the constituents of the BARMM on the performance of the latter viz-a-vis its capability to administer a region, and would be a blatant denial of the people’s right of suffrage that is enshrined in the Constitution to which the BOL has been incorporated into, and thus requiring constitutional amendment or legislative intervention, failing which possibly legal redress maybe sought; That, the region, and the country in general, should be spared the humility and made a laughing stock for perpetuating the condescending brand “failed experiment.”
Other Sultans of Sulu - Ibrahim Bahjin, Muedzul-Lail Kiram, Julkarnain Jainal Abirin and Phugdalun Kiram have rejected the BOL.
Rejected
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan previously said that municipal mayors and their constituents are also opposing the extension of the interim government and the BTA. “People are now protesting here (in Sulu) because they are opposing the self-serving proposal to extend the interim Bangsamoro government for another 3 years,” he said.
Sulu has previously cited various reasons for rejecting the proposed extension, according to a manifesto passed November 17 last year by the Provincial Board after consulting with municipal mayors and peoples’ organizations, among other sectors.
The manifesto said the Bangsamoro Parliament and the Regional Government have not delivered even the most basic of government services, as mandated, to Sulu. And for almost 2 years, all it delivered were the retrenchment and separation from services of regional employees causing a great distraught to the affected and their families.
It said that after almost 2 years, “all they can afford to banner is but the passing of an Administrative Code while the administration of component localities, in particular, the insular provinces, was left to fend for themselves.”
The manifesto also said BARMM’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Sulu, thus far, have been unsubstantial and wanting, almost negligible; And to allow the extension of the transition (period) would be tantamount to escape judgment by the constituents of the BARMM on the performance of the latter vis-a-vis its capability to administer a region, and would be a blatant denial of the people’s constitutional right of suffrage to which the BOL has been incorporated into, and thus requiring constitutional amendment or legislative intervention, failing which possible legal redress maybe sought.
It further said “that the region and the country in general, should be spared the humility and made a laughing stock for perpetuating the condescending brand of a failed experiment.”
“The question should be asked to those who are in the seat of authority in the BARMM on why are they so hesitant to submit themselves to an election when even before the transition they have repeatedly boasted of their readiness and preparedness to rule and govern; and how could they have the moral ascendancy to sit as an authority over a region when they are devoid of a mandate by the true will of the people, thereby casting doubts on their platform of so-called “Moral Governance?”, the manifesto reads.
It also called on the Office of the President, House of Representatives and the Senate, and Constitutional Commissions and other concerned groupings and individuals and the BARMM general populace to deny all attempts to extend the tenure of the BTA.
Plebiscite
But Senator Panfilo Lacson also echoed the sentiments of the Tausug people, including the Sultans of Sulu and Tan and other provincial and municipal government leaders, and even Kusug Tausug Representative Shernee Tambut.
Lacson said postponing the Bangsamoro elections should be decided by the residents themselves in a plebiscite.
“In the plebiscite they ratified last January of 2019, kasama po ito sa kanilang ni-ratify na magkakaroon ng eleksyon after the transition period of three years. So therefore, the people in the Bangsamoro region not being able to exercise that right to suffrage will affect the basic structure of the Bangsamoro regional government,” Lacson said during plenary debates last week.
This was also reported by CNN Philippines.
Lacson was interpellating Tolentino who - through Senate Bill No. 2214 - seeks to amend the Bangsamoro Organic Law to allow the postponement of the BARMM’s first regular election.
Lacson cited the (jurisprudence) Supreme Court decision on the Abas Kida vs. Senate of the Philippines case. He said depriving the Bangsamoro people of their right to vote next year constitutes a change in the basic structure of the regional government - a condition that would require a referendum.
Fears
Ebrahim admitted last November that he fears he may not win should the elections push through in 2022 and that is why there is a need to extend the term of the interim government. “We are very concerned kasi ang tingin namin, nag-i-start pa lang kami. And then parang wala pa kaming tangible na accomplishment talaga na maipakita namin. So ‘yun ang challenge sa amin, na kung mag-eleksyon, baka sabihin ng mga tao, wala naman ginawa ito,” he said in a podcast interview on November 13 with journalist Christian Esguerra on Press One.
He
said new transition schedule might not be enough to complete systemic and
structural changes in the region, including the crucial decommissioning of
combatants under the peace deal’s normalization process. “Kasi nga nakita natin
na kailangan talaga na meron. Halimbawa, mabuti kung talagang siguradong manalo
kami (in 2022 elections). Pero walang assurance ‘yun kasi anybody’s game na
pagka-eleksyon na. Pag hindi, ano mangyayari dun sa other aspects ng
negotiation?” he told Esguerra.
Esguerra’s report said BARMM was allocated a much bigger budget compared
with the old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Its block grant is worth
P65.3 billion in this year’s appropriations law, on top of a P10-billion
special development fund it was supposed to receive. (JC Gotinga, PCIJ,
Mindanao Examiner)
Like Us on Facebook: The Mindanao Examiner
Like Us on Facebook: The Zamboanga Post
Follow Us on Twitter: Mindanao Examine
Mirror Site: Mindanao Examiner Blog
Digital Archives: Mindanao Examiner Digital
Media Rates: Advertising Rates
No comments:
Post a Comment