COTABATO CITY – With the Bangsamoro plebiscite set on Monday, Muslims in Sulu province and Isabela City in Basilan, and Cotabato City in Maguindanao, vowed to reject the organic law which the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF is strongly pushing.
The MILF, which signed an interim peace deal with Manila in 2014, is expected to rule the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region should Muslims voted in favor of the Bangsamoro Organic Law or BOL (Republic Act 11054) which shall replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM.
Anti-BOL advocates in Isabela City in Basilan province. (Photos courtesy of Akbar Mutamad Jann)
ARMM is composed of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces. A second referendum has been set on February 6 with several towns in North Cotabato with some 286,867 voters and 352,494 voters in Lanao del Norte, are included in the proposed Bangsamoro region. For January 21 plebiscite , the total voters in ARMM is 1,980,441 and 71,124 in Isabela City and 113,751 in Cotabato City, according to the Commission on Elections.
Majority of Sulu’s over 830,000 Tausug population led by their political leaders Governor Toto Tan and his father, Dr. Sakur Tan wanted out of the autonomous region and wanted to be part again of Zamboanga Peninsula or Region 9.
Sulu along with Basilan and Tawi-Tawi were all originally part of Region 9 following the signing of the 1986 peace agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front under Nur Misuari and the Ramos administration. After the accord, a referendum was held following the 1989 signing by President Corazon Aquino of the Republic Act 6734, and amended in 2001 which paved the way for another plebiscite which included Basilan and Marawi City.
Nur Misuari and MNLF
Misuari is also opposed to the BOL and the government’s peace talks with the MILF even in the beginning because he wanted to perpetually be the governor of the ARMM.
After the peace agreement was signed, Misuari became the governor of the Muslim autonomous region. But despite the peace accord, there was a widespread disillusionment with the weak autonomy they were granted.
Under the peace deal, Manila would have to provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the south and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living standards.
In 2001, Misuari’s loyal forces and former rebels who joined the Philippine Army following the September 1996 peace accord, attacked a key military base in Jolo town and civilian targets in Zamboanga City in an effort to stop the government from calling an election in the ARMM.
Misuari then escaped by boat to Malaysia, where he had been arrested and deported to the Philippines and was eventually pardoned and released by then President Gloria Arroyo in exchange for MNLF support to her election bid as well as her allies in the Senate and Congress in 2004. He also ran thrice for governor in Sulu even while under detention, but lost miserably.
Now, when Duterte became president, he ordered police and military not to arrest Misuari - his political ally – saying he would talk peace with the MNLF, and even invited the former Libyan firebrand in the Presidential Palace to talk on the podium about peace.
Revolutionary Government
Last year, the governor of Sulu filed a petition with the Supreme Court questioning the legality and constitutionality of the BOL. The Philippine Constitution Association has also asked the High Court to reject the BOL, saying the law violates the 1987 Constitution that mandated only one organic act for Muslim Mindanao.
An oral argument on the controversial law has been scheduled next month, according to reports. The Tan patriarch has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to make good on his threat to establish a “revolutionary government,” so he could quickly reconfigure the country’s regions and shift to a federal form of government.
“Only through federalism you can configure the territories that will constitute the federal states and not cluster only the laggards together like the five provinces in the ARMM. Now they say that (BOL) it is also federalism na i-isang region ang gagawin sa BOL, but it is not, it is an isolation, because it will only be constituted by five provinces that are laggards, so it is only through federalism that you can mix the laggards with the affluent, otherwise, these laggards will never progress.”
“Kaya para mas mapadali ang federalism, dapat mag-declare na tayo ng revolutionary government to make things easier. So anong nangyari, sandali lang ay nagawa na yun Constitution natin. So the President can now appoint members of the commission that will draft the new Constitution and then come up with the new government and then come up with the form of government that we will have. Instead of a unitary form of government then we can have a parliamentary-federal system of government,” the elder Tan said, adding, “It is far better than creating a monster like the BOL.”
Federal Government
Duterte has repeatedly vowed to push for a change in form of government – from presidential system to federal – and even threatened to make Mindanao a federal region if lawmakers fail to amend the Constitution to pave the way for new federal government.
He said the current unitary system has spelled so much trouble. When he was mayor in Davao City in southern Philippines, Duterte had been strongly campaigning for the establishment of a federal form of government and in many of his public appearances and speeches the President said federalism is the next best thing for the country.
Duterte also vowed to step down – even before his term ends on 2022 – as soon as the new federal government is fully functional. “Do not be afraid of a dictatorship because I will not be the one,” Duterte said.
He also cited the precedent set by Corazon Aquino, who established a revolutionary government soon after leading an uprising in 1986 that ended the Marcos dictatorship. Aquino sacked all elected officials, abolished Congress and tore up the 1973 Constitution in favor of a provisional charter. She handpicked a commission to write a new Constitution, which was ratified by plebiscite in 1987.
Double-edged Sword
But Duterte’s rhetoric statement is also a double-edged sword. While he campaigns hard for the establishment of a federal government, Duterte is also urging Muslims to ratify the BOL. And the MILF insists that BOL should come first before any change in the form of government even while its leaders headed by Murad Ebrahim and their army of mujahedeen do not recognize the Philippine Constitution and had no experience in public governance.
During his visit to Cotabato City on January 18, Duterte told thousands of pro-MILF supporters: “Your approval of this law will not only serve as an expression of your desire to end more than half a century of armed struggle in the region. It will also serve testament of your determination to bring genuine peace and development in Muslim Mindanao to an autonomous government that truly represents and understands the needs of the people. Mga mahal kong Moro brothers and sisters, Magboto kayo ng Yes.”
ARMM
ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman, a strong advocate of BOL, also urged his constituents to support the BOL and participate in the plebiscite because it is the answer to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro.
“Ang yes (vote) sa BOL ay yes sa ating mga pangarap. Kung may BOL, mas malaya ang pamahalaang Bangsamoro na magdesisyon para sa sarili. Bukod pa rito, ang BOL ang pinaka-sagisag ng tagumpay ng prosesong pangkapayapaan. Kung mara-ratify ito, magiging malinaw ang mensahe sa lahat, tapos na ang gulo. Kung may BOL, mas malaya ang pamahalaang Bangsamoro na mag-desisyon para sa sarili. Mababawasan na ang paulit-ulit at mahabang pasahan ng pakiusap at pagmamakaawa sa pagitan natin at ng Maynila. Mas mapapabilis ang pagbaba ng serbisyo ng gobyerno,” he said.
“Ang BOL ang pinaka-sagisag ng tagumpay ng prosesong pangkapayapaan. Kung mararatify ito, magiging malinaw ang mensahe sa lahat - tapos na ang gulo. Bagama’t kailangan pa rin bantayan at kailangan pa ring ingatan, masasabi nating narito na ang kapayapaan,” he added.
Cotabato City
In Cotabato, Mayor Cynthia Sayadi, who is fighting the city’s inclusion to the proposed Bangsamoro region, said she received many reports that pro-BOL campaigners were harassing residents into voting for the ratification of the organic law.
“I received harassment complaints from my people by Bangsamoro plebiscite campaigners. Number one is the abuses, abuses from the people who wanted the BOL to win in the city…all of those who are supporting the inclusion of (Cotabato to Bangsamoro autonomous region), the Bangsamoro Organic Law,” the mayor said.
“The city will reject BOL and that is based on the consultations with the people, consultations with the different sectors and not just my voice, it is the voice of everyone that I consulted,” she added.
Cotabato is where the seat of the ARMM government is located even though the city is not part of the Muslim autonomous region. And there were reports that Ebrahim and other rebel leaders - who took advantage of the peace process - have allegedly invested heavily in various businesses in Cotabato and that is why they wanted the city to be part of the expanded autonomous region.
Isabela City
The same sentiments are also felt among residents in Isabela where Vice Mayor Cherryln Akbar is also leading in the campaign against the city’s inclusion to the Bangsamoro autonomous region. She said the BOL will only benefit the MILF and its interest in the region.
“Look at actor Robin Padilla who came here to campaign for the BOL. Why, is Robin Padilla from Isabela City, does he know the predicaments of the people here?” she said during a speech at a huge rally January 18 attended by thousands of people.
She also took a swipe on lawmakers who approved the BOL and now insisting us to be a part of the new autonomous region. “If our children are sick, if we do not have rice on the table, did any of them congressman come here to help us?” the mayor added.
All the ARMM governors, except Tan, are all campaigning for BOL – Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao; Jim Saliman of Basilan; Soraya Adiong of Lanao del Sur; Rashidin Matba of Tawi-Tawi and the four politicians were all strong supporters of President Benigno Aquino and defeated presidential candidate Mar Roxas. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan with the Ulama during a recent forum in Patikul town. (Mindanao Examiner Photos) 
