Zubiri: Bangsamoro law has no legal flaws
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri is certain that the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL)
has no constitutional infirmities, thus, it will stand legal scrutiny.
The senator made the remark in reaction to the petition of Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan 2nd asking the
Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the BOL, which created the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao and abolished the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
“I truly believe that the Organic Law that we passed can stand the test of constitutionality after careful
scrutiny done by the Senate’s best legal minds and with consultations done with eminent constitutionalists
and former chief justices and justices of the Supreme Court,” Zubiri said.
“It’s unfortunate that the province of Sulu challenged the constitutionality of the BOL but it’s well within their
rights to do so,” the senator said in a text message. “We hope that our Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court
can look at this law as an out of the box solution for lasting peace in Mindanao within the framework of our Constitution.”
Adhere to the wisdom
“As its principal author and sponsor, I will adhere to the wisdom of the high court as the final arbiter on whether the
BOL will pass the test of constitutionality once and for all so we can proceed to a just and lasting peace for Mindanao and the Philippines,” Zubiri said.
In his 48-page petition, Tan claimed that Congress committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction
when it passed the BOL, which President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law in July 2018.
Under the BOL, the new Bangsamoro area will made out of the ARMM, six districts of Lanao del Norte and 39
towns of Cotabato, and the sanctioned urban communities of Isabela and Cotabato subject to the endorsement of voters.
Further, few zones in Mindanao harmed by decades-old clash between government powers and previous
Muslim secessionist gatherings, for example, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Meanwhile, Zubiri said the job and different needs of individuals from the MILF, MNLF and their ladies’ assistant powers ought to tended to by restoration, recreation and improvement bundles as a component of the “standardization process.”
