House asked to invite constitutional experts at BBL deliberations

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives should invite not only fugitive Muslim rebel leaders but also leading constitutional experts and the brightest legal minds in the country as resource persons in the deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Isabela Rep. Rodito Albano III said yesterday.

Albano said getting the insights of legal luminaries and constitutional experts will greatly help in ensuring the enabling law for Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that will create a new autonomous region in Mindanao will strictly adhere to and conform to the Constitution.

The special 75-member House committee that will deliberate on the BBL has started meeting on the draft and will hold its first public hearing on Wednesday. It is chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the Centrist Democratic Party.

Some panel members raised the possibility of asking the Department of Justice to temporarily suspend the arrests warrant for Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) chieftain Ameril Umra Kato, who both face serious charges including murder, kidnapping and crimes against humanity. Both remain at large.

“Instead of just inviting fugitive rebel leaders like MNLF chair Nur Misuari and BIFF leader Ameril Umbra Kato as resource persons, we must also invite the best and the brightest legal mind and heads of vanguard organizations like Philconsa (Philippine Constitution Association) and the IBP (Integrated Bar of the Philippines) which are committed to protecting and defending the Constitution to enlighten Congress on the so-called ‘problematic’ provisions in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Albano said.

“I am certain that whatever inputs these eminent legal experts on the Constitution can share with legislators would help enlighten non-lawyer members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to understand the various ramifications of the contentious and controversial provisions contained in the draft law that the Palace wants Congress to pass with dispatch,” he said.

He said the panel can also invite the likes of noted constitutional law expert Fr. Joaquin Bernas and Christian Monsod, who are among the living members of the Constitutional Commission who drafted the 1987 Constitution and deans of the college of law of various universities, “to ensure that the contentious and controversial provisions contained in the draft law submitted by Malacañang are properly discussed and acted upon by Congress.”

He said the work of the committee will only be put to waste if the law it will pass will only be struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Rodriguez earlier said provisions on the sharing of revenues and power with the national government are among the likely highly-contentious issues that will occupy the deliberations on the BBL.

“There’ll definitely be contentious provisions, like the creation of a parliamentary form of government in the Bangsamoro region when the national government is presidential; also the powers to be given to the Bangsamoro government over its airspace and territorial waters,” he said.

He said the provisions on wealth- or revenue-sharing between the proposed autonomous region and the national government is also being seen by quarters as unconstitutional.

He cited as example Article 13, Section 22 of the draft BBL, which states that the Bangsamoro government has exclusive jurisdiction over all inland waters of the new autonomous region.