‘Bangsamoro deal legal’

MANILA, Philippines - The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) is legal, the head of the legal team of the government peace panel has reiterated amid concerns over its legality.    

Anna Tarhata Basman said the Constitution is the paramount basis of the CAB, which is now translated into a draft Bangsamoro Basic Law that will be submitted to Congress for approval.          

“We are open to engaging and informing everyone on the different provisions on the CAB,” she added.      Basman said Article 10 of the Constitution, which contains provisions on autonomous regions, served as the basis for the Bangsamoro’s ministerial form of government. She said section 20 is the basis for the devolution of powers to the Bangsamoro.     

“The general guideline it provided for the structure of government of an autonomous region is that the executive and legislative branch of the autonomous government must be elective and representative of the constituent political units,” she said.          

Basman said the CAB, which lists power-sharing arrangements between the central and Bangsamoro governments, has yet to be fleshed out in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.     

“It is therefore up to Congress to determine the extent of the legislative powers to be granted to the Bangsamoro legislative body and the relationship of this power vis-a-vis existing and future national legislation,” she said.     

As with other autonomous regions, she said the President would also continue to have general supervision over the Bangsamoro government.

The Bangsamoro government would also have devolved powers to regulate its constituent local government units like the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.   

She assured the public that the CAB respects the powers of constitutional bodies, including the Supreme Court and the Commission on Audit.     

Basman said the police force for the Bangsamoro will be under the National Police Commission as required by the Constitution.     

“Also, having a human rights body specifically catering to the Bangsamoro will not diminish the current powers of the national Commission on Human Rights as, in fact, this arrangement already exists in the form of the Regional Human Rights Commission in the ARMM,” she said. 

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Magdalo party-list Rep. Francisco Ashley Acedillo likewise affirmed the constitutionality of the CAB during a weekly press briefing at the House of Representatives. 

Rodriguez reiterated that the CAB only provides for enhanced autonomy, contrary to claims that it creates an independent state. 

Government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer earlier said independence was never an agenda in the negotiations.