MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) was urged on Tuesday to declare as unconstitutional and void Republic Act 11054, or the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which is up for plebiscite on Jan. 21, 2019.
The Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), in a suit filed through counsels Rodolfo O. Reyes and Manuel M. Lazaro, has asked the high court to invalidate the law and to stop the release of funds for the legislation.
“Unless a TRO or preliminary injunction is issued, petitioner and the Filipino people will continue to suffer from a grave and irreparable damage or injury inclusive of the adverse aftermaths to the nation, warned by the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) to happen, should the government fail to succumb to the politically irresistible aspirations of the MILF,” the petition said.
The enactment of amendatory law to change the name Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and the inclusion of additional territories the MILF desires “is not in accordance with laws and the Constitution,” it added.
The Bangsamoro law will serve as the enabling statute of the 2014 peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro aims to grant greater autonomy to the Bangsamoro region.
The law will establish a new autonomous political entity known as the Autonomous Region of the Bangsamoro and will replace ARMM.
President Rodrigo Duterte certified the Bangsamoro Organic Law as urgent on May 29 and the following day, both House of Representatives and the Senate approved the proposed bill seeking to end decades-old conflict in Mindanao.
The law was supposed to be signed during Duterte’s State of the Nation Address on July but was delayed by a few days when the House of Representatives failed to ratify its version of the law./PN
