THE petition seeking to nullify the peace pact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the proposed creation of a Bangsamoro entity in Mindanao is “very premature,” Senate President Franklin Drilon said Monday.
“The petition filed before the Supreme Court is very premature. That (draft BBL) has still not been enacted into law and yet, it was filed before the Supreme Court,” Drilon said in a radio interview.
“Currently, the law regarding the Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao or Armm charter is the one that exists. Until the proposed BBL is passed, that (existing Armm charter) will govern,” he added.
To erase doubts of the public, Drilon said he would ensure that the draft BBL that will be passed in the Senate would be acceptable to all the Filipinos.
Senate local government committee chaired by Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has yet to draft a committee report on the proposed law.
On June 19, petitions seeking to declare unconstitutional the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) were filed at the high court.
Petitioners former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras and the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) led by its president Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez both alleged that the government peace panel committed grave abuse of discretion in signing the FAB and Cab on October 12, 2012 and March 27, 2014, respectively.
Philconsa, in its petition, said the provisions of the framework and comprehensive agreements “are all repugnant to the 1987 Constitution and existing laws.”
Paras said that the CAB and the FAB “were negotiated and signed without any public consultation.” (Sunnex)