Bangsamoro agreement unconstitutional — Miriam

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago believes the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) is unconstitutional as it seeks to establish a substate exercising certain sovereign powers   reserved for the central government.

Speaking at the commencement exercises of Gordon College in Olongapo City yesterday, Santiago said as a student of constitutional law, it will be extremely difficult to convince her that the CAB respects the Constitution. 

“On the contrary: The agreement violates the principle of constitutional supremacy,” she said.

At Malacañang, Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said: “We respect Senator Santiago’s views. We affirm that throughout the negotiations on the CAB, the Philippine panel was guided by one basic principle: that all provisions of the agreement must be consistent with the Constitution. Members of Congress will have the opportunity to review the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law once the draft bill is submitted for their deliberations.”

In a statement, the chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments said the CAB does not establish an autonomous region as provided in the Constitution, but a substate.

“Both the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) and the Bangsamoro Agreement appear to facilitate the secession of the Bangsamoro from our country, in a manner similar to the secession of Kosovo and Crimea,” she said.

Santiago said she is concerned about Part 7, paragraph 4, subparagraph (b) of the CAB, stating that a function of the Transition Commission is “to work on proposals to amend the Philippine Constitution for the purpose of accommodating and entrenching in the Constitution the agreements of the Parties whenever necessary without derogating from any prior past agreements.”

“This provision is beyond ridiculous,” she said.

Santiago said the basic function of a constitution is to list the powers of the state and to list the rights of the citizens.  

“The Constitution is a list of sovereign powers that are reserved for the government, meaning to say, all the three branches,” she said. 

“This is the principle of constitutional supremacy. It is beyond ridiculous to state that the Philippine Constitution should accommodate the agreements of the parties whenever necessary.””

Santiago said the CAB embodies the consent of the executive branch to amend the Constitution to accommodate it. Preliminary studies show that the agreement apparently contains provisions very similar to those contained in the MOA-AD that the Supreme Court had declared as unconstitutional, she added.

Santiago said she believes that the Bangsamoro will turn into a substate based on the following: 

The powers of the central government shall be determined by the agreement, thus turning Bangsamoro into a substate. 

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which is provided for by the Constitution, will be abolished by mere agreement with the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front), which is not surprising if you consider that the Bangsamoro has become a substate.