Posted
on October 11, 2012 08:30:52 PM
Bangsamoro
at any price
Trade
Tripper
Jemy
Gatdula
BACK IN
2008, the Supreme Court gave one of the most important judicial decisions ever
in the history of our Republic. As penned by Associate Justice Conchita
Carpio-Morales in the North Cotobato case, the Memorandum of Agreement on
Ancestral Domain violated the Constitution, creating as it does “a far more
powerful entity than the autonomous region recognized in the Constitution. It
is not merely an expanded version of the ARMM, the status of its relationship
with the national government being fundamentally different from that of the
ARMM. Indeed, [the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity] is a State in all but name as
it meets the criteria of a State.”
As I
wrote then (“The MOA and of good intentions,” BusinessWorld, 31 October 2008):
“The MOA essentially begins with acknowledgments from the government of the
Bangsamoro rights. Then it goes on to identify the Bangsamoro as the natives,
Muslim or not, of Mindanao, including Palawan and Sulu at the time of
colonization, their descendants, whether mixed or of full blood, and their
spouses. The MOA then designates the territory of the Bangsamoro as the land --
as well as waters, airspace, and atmospheric space -- embracing the
Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan geographic region. The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity is
mandated to have jurisdiction over those areas, including ‘territorial waters,’
as well as the use of resources. Finally, the BJE is free to enter into any economic
cooperation and trade relations with foreign countries, establish trade
missions in other countries, and enter into environmental treaties. With that,
our government almost got away with allowing a group of people to dismember our
Republic and to have another State carved out away from us.”
Contrary
to what most people think, sovereignty is not a requirement in order for an
entity to become a State. As provided for under the 1933 Montevideo Convention,
the elements of a State are only the following: people, territory, government,
and the capacity to enter into relations with other States. As with the MoA-AD
then and as it is now with the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro announced
last Sunday, all four elements have been acquired by the Bangsamoro. This is an
entity that potentially could get portions of OUR territory, OUR resources, and
OUR people.
That it
has the elements of “people” and “government” are seen from the provisions of
Art. I.1 and I.2 of the Framework. Thus, the “Bangsamoro shall be established
to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).” Also, the
“government of the Bangsamoro shall have a ministerial form. The Parties agree
to entrench an electoral system suitable to a ministerial form of government.
The electoral system shall allow democratic participation, ensure
accountability of public officers primarily to their constituents and encourage
formation of genuinely principled political parties.”
One very
significant provision is Article I.5, which betrays the Bangsamoro “people’s”
desire to be dis-affiliated from Filipinos and indicates continued use of the
quite discredited (under international law) “First Nation” argument: “The
Parties recognize Bangsamoro identity. Those who at the time of conquest and
colonization were considered natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and
the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including Palawan, and their
descendants whether of mixed or of full blood shall have the right to identify
themselves as Bangsamoro by ascription or self-ascription.”
That it
has the element of “territory” can be seen from the provisions of Article I
above, as well as Article V, particularly Article V.1: “The core territory of
the Bangsamoro shall be composed of: (a) the present geographical area of the
ARMM; (b) the Municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and
Tangkal in the province of Lanao del Norte and all other barangays in the
Municipalities of Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigkawayan, Pikit, and Midsayap
that voted for inclusion in the ARMM during the 2001 plebiscite; (c) the cities
of Cotabato and Isabela; and (d) all other contiguous areas where there is a
resolution of the local government unit or a petition of at least ten percent
(10%) of the qualified voters in the area asking for their inclusion at least
two months prior to the conduct of the ratification of the Bangsamoro Basic
Law.”
That it
has the “capacity to enter into relations with other States” can be seen in
Article III.2.c, whereby the Bangsamoro has “the power to enter into economic
agreements.”
That the
Bangsamoro and the Philippine government has an “asymmetric” relationship means
nothing. When the Framework Agreement takes effect, the Bangsamoro can at any
time claim the status of being a State as it has -- with the complicity of our
government -- acquired all the elements of one. It has all the powers of a
State: police powers, taxation, and eminent domain. It even has its own
executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
And the
clincher why we know the Bangsamoro is a State is because not once under the
Framework Agreement do we see the Bangsamoro subject to the Constitution.
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