Davao City – Has the constitutional requirement on the granting of genuine autonomy to the Bangsamoro been placed in the backburner amid all the talk of amendments to the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)?
Government peace panel Chairperson Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer thinks so.
Yesterday, Ferrer reminded the House of Representatives to prioritize giving genuine autonomy to the envisioned Bangsamoro entity ahead of the Ad Hoc Committee’s section-by-section voting on the proposed law tomorrow, May 18.
“Akin lang pong uulitin na ang hinihiling lang naman natin sa Kongreso ay sundin ang isinasaad ng ating Saligang Batas na ibigay ang tunay na otonomiya sa Bangsamoro (To reiterate, our only appeal to Congress is for them to follow the Constitution in giving genuine autonomy to the Bangsamoro),” Ferrer said.
She stressed that genuine autonomy must be given utmost priority by the lawmakers for the benefit of Filipinos in Mindanao.
The government chief negotiator also hoped for minimal amendments to the BBL, which seeks to disband the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in favor of the new Bangsamoro “substate”.
“We acknowledge the need for certain refinements but we appeal to our legislators to keep the key, value-added features that could spell the difference between a weak and a meaningful regional autonomy are retained.
“We trust that our legislators will study the draft law with discernment and keep in mind the overall objective of institutionalizing effective autonomy for the people in the prospective Bangsamoro,” Ferrer pointed out in a statement sent to the media here.
The key features, Ferrer said, include the parliamentary structure, automatic block grant, internal audit body, own CHR (Commission on Human Rights), the electoral body which is part or under the Commission on Elections (Comelec), and the police board that will serve as the regional arm of the National Police Commission (Napolcom).
She also expects the Ad Hoc panel to keep its hands off the provisions on the concurrent or devolved powers, such as on public order and safety which is already a shared power of all the local government units (LGUs).
Manila Bulletin
