OUR MOMENT OF GRACE
We are at a unique moment in our
history as a Filipino nation.
A moment that demands courageous
statesmanship on the part of our legislators and the generosity of spirit of a
united Filipino nation – to overcome the prejudices of ages that stand in the
way of our humanity, to heal the wounds of war, to restore broken
relationships, and to undertake people-centered development based on social
justice.
Our legislators are in the enviable
position to crown 17 years of peacemaking with the approval of a Bangsamoro
Basic Law (BBL) that respects the Bangsamoro’s right to
self-determination.
The proposed law that would pave the
way for the creation of a new autonomous political entity to replace the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is only the first step in the fulfillment
of the promise of our Philippine Constitution. But it is a necessary first
step.
The Constitution mandates Congress to
pass what it calls an Organic Act (Article X, Section 18) that would give the
Bangsamoro more powers with less government intervention through an autonomy
that is different from other local government units. And the Constitution says
that such an organic law shall be “effective when approved by a majority of the
votes cast by the constituent units.”
If, after the Congress has exercised
its legislative powers to improve the BBL, there are still provisions on which
sufficient consensus cannot be reached, it is suggested that those provisions
be left to the Supreme Court in the exercise of its power of judicial review.
In the delicate system of checks and balances and separation of powers, it is
the Supreme Court that is the final arbiter on the interpretation of the
Constitution. But, while the Supreme Court can delete provisions it deems unconstitutional,
it cannot add what the Congress has deleted from the proposed organic act,
which is substantially based on the agreement signed by the Executive after
years of negotiations and legal reviews that, we believe, may be accorded the
presumption of regularity.
Moreover, removing powers from the
BBL that were already given to the ARMM under RA 9054 would be a backward step
and construed as bad faith on the part of the government. And the call by some
legislators that certain injustices and deaths from decades of strife be first
resolved or that the interests of all affected parties be incorporated in the
law may be premature. The organic law is not the end of the peace process. It
is only the beginning:
“Peace agreements by themselves do
not change anything. Peace agreements often arrive into a situation of great
distrust and skepticism – of the parties of each other, and of other citizens
of the parties and even of the peace process itself....”
“...What a peace agreement provides
is an opportunity to enlarge the space for political debate and for greater
political participation and to enlarge the space for greater equitable
socio-economic participation, and more effective governance.” *
For the first time, we have
leadership on both sides of the peace process who trust each other, are
committed to peace, justice and the kind of human development badly needed by
our country. The peoples of Muslim Mindanao have given up their decades-long
dream of independence to join the rest of the nation in what we are told is the
longest journey in any struggle for a new social order – the journey from the
mind to the heart.
To finally be part of a united
Filipino nation.
This is our historic moment of grace.
Let us not squander it.
CONVENORS
Orlando B. Cardinal Quevedo, OMI
(Lead Convenor); Christian S. Monsod; Santanina T. Rasul; Amina Rasul-
Bernardo; Guiamel Alim; Mary Ann Arnado; Datu Haron Bandila; Patricio Diaz;
Rufa Cagoco- Guiam; Vicente Lao; Roberto Layson; Gus Miclat; Arnold Maria Noel;
Ramon Piang Sr; Rudy Rodil; Andrea Maria Patricia Sarenas; Joel Tabora; Samira
Gutoc- Tomawis.
*A Paper on Peace Processes in the
Philippines (June 2011) by Christine Bell
