Last Thursday, the Philippine STAR headlined this story, “House, Senate set Dec. 16 BBL deadline.” Well, last Tuesday, the Star headline was “Bangsamoro Law dead!” For most Filipinos who were surveyed about the BBL, it is a law full of unconstitutional holes. While Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, the principal author of the BBL Law has admitted that the 48 unconstitutional provisions on this controversial bill have already been removed, I think, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said it correctly, “The Bangsamoro Law is dead!” I always knew from the start that the BBL was wrong!
If you ask me, if there is anyone who should be blamed for the untimely demise of the BBL, the blame goes all the way to the top in the hands of Pres. Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III, where the buck should stop. In the first place, P-Noy was never transparent to the Filipino people about his noble intentions to solve the Muslim question. His secret meeting with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader Al Haj Murad Ibrahim on August 4, 2011 in Tokyo started on the wrong foot. Something like this should not have taken in a foreign land away from the prying eyes of Philippine media.
Today, no one even knows what was the deal between P-Noy and Malaysia’s Najib Razak. But what we know now is that Razak is being ousted by the Malaysian people for corruption. Now could this corruption be linked with Malaysia’s brokering the peace deal with Pres. Aquino that would have resulted in the BBL law? We have to find out.
But again I’d like to reiterate my stand that from day one we were always against the entry of Malaysia as the so-called “go between” the Philippine government and the MILF for obvious reasons that Malaysia was a major supporter of the Muslim separatist movement. That’s a foreign nation interfering with our internal security! That’s why the BBL is dead in the water!
So we wait with bated breath what the MILF or Malaysia would do now that the BBL is practically dead. We were warned by the Aquino regime that scrapping the BBL would result in more body bags. With elections getting closer and hotter, I’m sure that we shall be seeing body bags, but not from Muslim separatists, rather from political killings, which began when Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo killed his political rival, Gat Andres Bonifacio. This is why we must seek reform as-soon-as-possible!
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Speaking of reforms, a group led by the Philippine Constitution Association (PHILCONSA), three Catholic Archbishops, Arch. Fernando Capalla of Davao City, Arch. Romulo dela Cruz of Zamboanga City and Archbishop of Lipa Ramon Arguelles with former Senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad, former Rep. Glenn Chiong, Atty. Greco Belgica and former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno filed a petition before the Supreme Court for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus against the budgetary lump sum in the 2015 national budget.
Just when we all thought that the Legislative and Executive branches would submit to the en banc decision by the SC last year declaring the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as unconstitutional, suddenly another mysterious lump sum amounting to P424,144,763,000 appears in the 2015 budget.
Those who were named as respondents by this group are Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and the Commission on Audit (COA). Hmmm, if I recall correctly, Sec. Abad is supposed to be the mastermind of the DAP, which has been declared as unconstitutional in July 2014. So why has he not learned his lessons from the SC?
As Atty. Greco Belgica once texted me…it is because no one filed a case against Sec. Abad in our courts of law for masterminding the DAP. Thanks to Daang Matuwid, he escaped prosecution. Now if Sec. Mar Roxas fails to win his bid for the 2016 Presidential elections, I’m sure that Sec. Abad would be one of those Aquino lackeys who would be arrested by the next administration. Now why is Sec. Roxas not doing well in the surveys, despite the obvious efforts by SWS or Pulse Asia to elevate him? It’s because what he is selling to the Filipino voter is the same Daang Matuwid that the Filipino people are already sick and tired of hearing. Naka suka na!
At this point, I’d like to congratulate this group of Clergy, former government officials for their courage to file such cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the unwary or unconscious Filipino people. Mind you this is what we expected the real opposition to the Aquino Regime should have been doing. But that is not happening because the opposition is really nonexistent. This is why we must change our political system otherwise the Philippines would always play catch up to our ASEAN neighbors!
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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.