MANILA, March 25 (PNA) — One of the framers of the 1987 Constitution has appealed to Congress to give a more objective outlook on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) when it resumes its committee hearings on the measure in April.
Lawyer Christian Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and former Chairman of the Commission on Elections, said the public should also give the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) more credit for giving up its dream of pushing Mindanao’s secession when it signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government.
Monsod also insisted that the proposed parliamentary form of the Bangsamoro regional government is allowed under the 1987 Constitution and fits more the Bangsamoro culture.
“BBL will provide just enough power for self-determination within the bounds of the Constitution. The region needs the resources to accomplish its goals,” he said.
He also hoped that critics would look more deeply into the “vision, spirit, and core principles of the BBL,” which he stressed are completely in line with the 1987 Constitution’s provisions on human development and social justice.
“If we are going to have a new social order as mandated by the 1987 Constitution, then we must start with these areas (Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras) that are our biggest failure in terms of human development, oppression and neglect for centuries… because of armed conflicts,” he said.
Fourteen of the 18 surviving framers of the 1987 Constitution have expressed full support for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and the approval of the BBL. They have argued that a new organic law is necessary to fulfill the vision and spirit that guided the constitutional provisions on autonomous regions.
Monsod also emphasized that the proposed Bangsamoro will not be sub-state that will dismember the country. (PNA)